Island of the Gum Gums
by Steven Kunz
Summary: (Complete) Luffy, Nami, Usopp and Zoro are shipwrecked on an island with another pirate shipwrecked on the other side of the island! Also, Romantic Tensions rise between Luffy and Nami as the crew attempts to find out the origins of the Gum-Gum Fruit
1. Shipwrecked!

One Piece - Island of the Gum Gums - Chapter 1   
  
Written by Steven Kunz the Fan Author  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own nor invent One Piece. This excellent manga was written and drawn byEiichiro Oda.  
  
Author's Notes: I thought of this idea a while back when I was reading One Piece manga in Shonen Jump. I'm not sure if the origins of the Gum Gum Fruit is explained in One Piece, so I decided to write this. ^^ I hope everyone likes it, reads it, and reviews it. ^_^'' Enjoy!  
  
Oh, a point of note. I added some new stuff to this chapter. For example, the addition of Usopp in this fic. Thanks to Sylphiel filling me on that forgotten detail in that review, I'm going to add him into it since it did occur to me that forgetting stuff that happened in the original manga before my fanfiction is a bad idea.  
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A Small Dinghy was docked at the Naval Base Town, a few miles away from Alvida's island. Thanks to Koby's knowledge of Alvida's secret pirate base, she had finally been arrested and reported to the Navy. Also, the two former rulers of the Naval Base, Captain Axe-Hand Morgan and Helmeppo, were given a trial hearing, and were also convicted.  
  
Unfortunately, because the prison island somewhere nearby is running into housing problems, the only thing the Navy can do is to hold them captive in a big cage and in the middle of the public. With nothing to fear, the people were teasing the captives and throwing many disgusting and unnessary things in the cage.  
  
From the dinghy at the docks of the Naval Base, a young man of 18 years of age stepped out and into the middle of the town.  
  
When he walked into the middle of the crowd, they immediately recognized he was a pirate from his different appearance and that it seperated him from the rest of the crowd. He wore a black trenchcoat over his clothes, which was a dark blue T-Shirt with a grey stripe in the middle, a black belt with a gold buckle in the middle, and dark blue baggy cargo shorts that went down one or two inches below his knee. He also wore dark brown boots, and a series of bandages wrapped around his face, leaving only his eyes and a small portion of his mouth and nose open. Finally, the bandages created a makeshift bandana which went around his slicked back brown hair.  
  
He walked up to the cage and looked at the captives. He could hear the naval marines coming to see who came in, so he quickly asked the question that he's been waiting to ask to these people for a while.  
  
"Did someone pass by here? Someone who wore a red vest, blue shorts, sandals, and a straw hat?" He asked.  
  
Immediately, Alvida, Morgan, and Helmeppo began to scream at him, telling him that there was someone who fit the description and how they ruined their lives for the worst. He told them to shut up for a moment and asked the captives again where they may have went. They immediately pointed towards out the sea and said that they were drifting.  
  
He growled and went back to the dinghy. Not feeling rather pleased about not finding the person's location, he decided to go drifting as well, hoping maybe he would catch up to them eventually.  
  
Releasing the rope which anchored the ship to the dock, he set off sail towards the south, placing his hands on a box that was next to him. He opened it real quick, and picked up what was inside, which were two weapons. One was a samurai sword with black gripping, and another were two pistols that were both engraved, "Rousse Le-Onne"  
  
He closed the box and continued to drift towrds the south. As he stared out into the sea, he thought to himself, "Straw Hat Luffy, I will find you! And when I do, I will find out the reason behind your strength!"  
  
~  
  
In the middle of the sea, there was a ship that wasn't drifting for once, but it was now heading towards a more accurate destination. The ship had a simple pirate flag on the mast, yet the symbol was not the traditional pirate school, but it was a simplified skull with 2 bones behind it and a straw hat on top.  
  
A girl was looking out towards the sea. She had short orange hair, and she wore a white T-Shirt with blue stripes, a orange skirt, and small black boots. She was the ship's navigator, and she was looking for any signs that a storm would appear anytime soon or sometime in the future.  
  
From behind her, from within one of the ship's cabins where the kitchen was, there was a loud crash and two people were arguing very loudly, over something of the last bit of meat they had left.  
  
The girl ran into the kitchen and when she got there, she bent and shook her head. What she saw was a man with short light green hair dressed in a white shirt and black pants, and he was laughing quite loudly. In his hands was a fork, and on the fork was the last piece of meat. On the other side of the table was the other person who went for that last piece, but he had fallen backwards. He had short black hair, and he wore a red vest, blue shorts, sandals, and a straw hat. He tried to grab the last piece of meat, but in a rush, the other person pushed him backwards, causing him to fall over.  
  
The girl got really mad by this argument and yelled out, "Zoro! Luffy! It's only a piece of food! There's no point in arguing over it."  
  
Zoro rubbed his hands behind his neck and said to the girl, "Sorry, Nami. I guess it did get a bit out of control." He walked out of the kitchen and went outside.   
  
Luffy got up and grinned at Nami. "Yeah, I'm sorry too! Well, I got to go see where we are now!"  
  
As he walked past her, she sighed quite loudly and muttered something. Luffy stopped and looked at her. His usual grin on his face seemed to have receded a bit as he asked what was wrong.  
  
She took a deep breath and said, "Well, I'm just a bit stunned about all that's happened so far. I hate pirates, yet here I am, part of your crew. It's pretty ironic. Also, I thought that when I did become part of your crew, you would hate me forever since I did tie you up and left you there at Captain Buggy's ship. I'm still a bit amazed you and I are still friends"  
  
Luffy blinked and his grin went away, showing a sad expression on his face. He put his hand on her shoulder, and Nami looked right at Luffy. He now had that grin again, and he said, "It's okay, Nami. You were just doing what you thought was right for you. Besides, I wouldn't hate you for doing something like that. "  
  
She was stunned. At that moment, she thought to herself, "I...........I never noticed it before......but Luffy is really a nice guy......"  
  
She bent her head and blushed a little. Luffy crouched a bit and looked right back at her. "Are you okay, Nami?"  
  
"Huh? Oh! Oh, I'm fine, Luffy!" She sputtered out and walked away towards her room. Before she entered, she faced Luffy and said, "Thank you, Luffy."  
  
He put a hand behind his head and showed that wide grin again. "No problem!"  
  
She smiled and entered her room while Luffy went to his own room. He was pretty tired after eating.  
Meanwhile, Zoro went outside himself. Carrying his 3 swords in the sheaths by his waist, he unsheathes the one with the white gripping on it. He takes a long look at the blade and think of something he had said a long time ago, "Kuina, I promised you back then that I will become the world's greatest swordsman, even if I am a pirate! I swear to you on my honor as one that I'll make my name known throughout this entire world and the afterlife!"  
  
When Zoro put the sword back in it's sheath and turned around to walk to the other side of the ship, he felt the tip of his other sheathes bump into something that made a hollow thunk be heard from where he was. He looked down and blinked, seeing who he had bumped into. He sighed real quickly and said, "Oh. I'm sorry, Usopp."  
  
He looked down and saw a man holding his head. He wore a brown bandana over his nappy and curly black hair with brown-rimmed goggles on his head. He simply wore brown overalls with a series of white bandages wrapped around his waist, a brown bag that had slumped to the floor and was hanging off his shoulder, a blue bordered wristband with a white stripe in the middle, and big brown boots. He lifted his head at Zora and said. "Ah, well, that's okay."  
  
Usopp then got back to work on what he was doing, fixing a cannon that was on the ship. Zoro looked at him again, smirked, took one of the sword sheathes and poked Usopp's head with the tip of the sheath gently. Immediately, Usopp turned to Zoro and yelled. "Hey! That hurt!"  
  
Zoro sighed and said, "No it didn't. I barely tapped you. You should barely feel that with that bandana on your head."  
  
Usopp was a bit angry, but he was afraid at what Zoro might say if he said anything back. He sighed and went back to work, muttering. "Yeah...you're right. Sorry."  
  
Zoro nodded his head and walked to the other side of the ship out of boredom while Usopp fumbled with the cannons once again.  
  
~  
  
Rousse kept drifting along the ocean, looking everywhere and hoping he'll find Luffy's ship.  
  
It was now night, and he had gotten sick and tired of searching for Luffy. It was obvious drifting wasn't going to work, but he had no choice. There was no accurate way of determining his location, and since no one knew he was, he decided to keep going.  
  
Unfortunately, since it was pretty dark, he couldn't tell where he was, and he had no idea of what was going to be in store for him very soon.  
  
The water began to become more erratic as his ship was rattling from the extra force given by the ocean. Soon, the ship began to rock widely back and forth as the ocean became even more erratic.  
  
Soon, a loud bang was heard as a bright flash of lighting appeared. Rousse immediately became scared and struggled to keep his ship stable. However, in a storm like this, keeping a dinghy afloat was nearly impossible.  
  
Rousse turned around and gasped. A bright flas of light appeared and that flash of light revealed a huge wave was headed towards him. He screamed loudly and in a state of panic, he covered his face with his arms, and prepared for the worst. The wave immediately fell towards him, and a loud crash was heard.  
  
~  
  
A loud knock was heard on Nami's door. She slowly got out of bed, put on her boots, and went to open the door. When she did, Zoro was right in front of her as he yelled, "Nami! We're in the middle of a storm! We've got to get out there and keep the ship afloat!"  
  
Immediately, she ran towards the deck of the ship and ran around frantically, looking for the rope that's used to lower or raise the ship's sails.  
  
The next room Zoro went to was Usopp's room. He knocked hard on the door and yelled. "Usopp! Get out, we need your help!"  
  
Immediately, he shouted out of fear, "No! I...I can't! I'm planning something really big!"  
  
"Like what?" Zoro shouted out in reply.  
  
"Er......come back later, Zoro! I'll have a plan by the time you get everyone on the deck!" He yelled back and scoffed at him, not wanting to come out. Zoro sighed and ran to Luffy's room when he heard a click from the other side of Usopp's room.  
  
When he got to his room and knocked on the door, He yelled for him to come out, no. However, there was no response. After waiting a few minutes, he opened the door and was surprised by what he saw.   
  
Luffy was still asleep, but instead of lying down on the bed, he was on the floor and everytime the ship rocked back and forth, he just kept sliding towards that direction.   
  
Zoro tried to wake him up shaking him back and forth as soon as he managed to grab Luffy from off the floor. When that didn't work, he pinched his cheek for a long time. That stirred Luffy, but he went back to sleep. Without nothing else to do, Zora simply grabbed Luffy and carried him back outside.  
  
When Zoro reached the deck, he simply put Luffy down and went to Nami so he can help her with the sails. Luffy, however, was still sliding across the deck. Finally, he woke up when he accidently slammed his head on the rail of the ship.  
  
After waking up, he realized finally that he was in the middle of the storm, and went towards Nami and Zoro to help them with the sails.  
  
With the three of them pulling the sails, there were able to keep the ship steady for a few minutes. However, when they heard a loud crash nearby, they turned to where the sound came from. From what they can see, a huge wave had completely destroyed a tiny ship nearby.  
  
Unfortunately, after the wave had destroyed the ship, it was still coming toward Luffy's ship. The crew tried their best to keep the stable, but unfortunately, it was impossible as the wave pushed the ship to it's side. With nothing left to do now that the ship was turning to it's side, Luffy, Nami, and Zoro held eachother real close, bracing for the impact From within the ship, a faint scream could be heard below, most likely from Usopp's room.  
  
~  
  
When the storm passed, the sun shined brightly throughout the enitre sea, giving it a light orange color as it continued to rise.  
  
Where the storm was, there was an island not too far off. It was a very tropical island, with lots of trees nearly enveloping the island. The trees were nearly the same throughout the island. However, the trees in the middle had a different appearance from the ones surrounding them.   
  
On one side of the island, there was a ship that had amazingly survived the storm. The bow of the ship, however, had a somewhat big hole in the middle. On the other side of the island was a young man who had survived the storm. Right next to him was a wooden box which seemed to have been tethered to his wrist.  
  
~  
  
Nami opened her eyes. Due to the impact of the wave, everyone was knocked out, but because they held eachother real close, they were able to stay on the ship.  
  
When she opened her eyes, she got up and sat herself down on the deck. She took a quick look around. It seemed that nothing was damanged in the storm, but the barrels and boxes that were on the deck were either had opened up, spilling the contents, or they were lost in the storm. Some were on the shore nearby.  
  
On the floor of the beach, a small crash was heard from one of the sides of the ship. It was Usopp. He had fainted during the storm and had simply rolled backwards and landed against the window where it broke as he fell a few feet from all the glass shards. He was starting to stir, but he now had a huge headache.  
  
She also noticed Zoro at the end of the deck. He was knocked out, and it appeared that he let go, causing him to nearly fall off the ship. When she looked down near her, Luffy was lying down on his back. It looked like he had fallen asleep while they were holding eachother during the storm. He was pretty tired even as he was helping with the sails.  
  
Instead of getting angry at Luffy for still being asleep, she smiled and stroked his hair with her hands. As she was doing this, a tiny blush appeared on her face.   
  
Immediately, Luffy woke up and looked at Nami.   
  
"Morning, Nami!" He said to her with that wide grin on his face. He then felt her hand still slowly stroking his hair and said, "Um....is there anything in my hair?"  
  
She pulled her hand away quickly and looked towards the ocean. "No.....I....I just wanted to see if you had a bump on your head..."  
  
"I see..." Luffy said. Suddenly, he gasped and got to his feet quickly. He ran through the ship, searching for something very frantically. When he came back to Nami, she asked what was wrong. Immediately, he said to her, "Where's my hat?! I can't leave it behind!"  
  
She blinked, but then helped him search for it. Within minutes, Luffy found his hat. It turned out when Zoro nearly fell off the ship, he saw the hat flying away and grabbed it, knowing it's importance to Luffy.  
  
After putting the hat back on, he looked out towards the island and thought to himself, "Where are we now?"  
  
~  
  
On the other side of the island, Rousse had just woken up. He lifted his head out of the sand and looked around. He saw a huge set of trees in front of him.  
  
After he got up, he turned to the ocean. Unfortunately, there was absolutely nothing left of his dinghy. Everything was pretty much gone, except for the box tethered to his wrist.  
  
He smiled and opened the box, taking out his Samurai Sword and his 2 Pistols, and streches real quick.  
  
"My ship is totally destroyed, and the only thing left are my weapons....and it doesn't look there's anyone on the island.....Aw crap, I'm so screwed......."  
  
With nowhere else to go, he walked towards the center of the islands and into the trees. He then remembered about his bandages around his face. Realizing that they were soaked, they would be quite useless right now, so he took his bandages off. What was underneath was a very smooth face that was very similar to that of a model's face. However, there was a long thin scar just above his nose that went as far as his eyes.  
  
~  
  
Finally, Zoro had woken up and everyone was now on the shore. Even Usopp had gotten himself up and streched as he walked over to where everyone was. They were busy talking about what to do.  
  
"Well, the only bit of damage is at the bow, so I guess all we have to do is to simply rebuild it. There's enough pieces of the bow to make it hold until we head to the next area." Zora said.  
  
"This shouldn't be too hard." Nami said.  
  
Luffy was going to say something when he was interrupted by the growling of everyone's stomachs. It was nearly breakfast , and since most of the food was washed out to sea, they were pretty hungry.  
  
Nami said, "Maybe we should go get some food first. There's probably some food somewhere on that island."  
  
Immediately, she got an idea and grinned. "Zoro, you can stay here and get started on rebuilding the ship. Luffy, you can come with me and search for food, okay?"  
  
Luffy showed off that wide grin again and said outloud, "Okay! I'm getting pretty hungry too!"  
  
After a few minutes of figuring out what to do, Zoro and Usopp stayed behind to work on the ship while Luffy and Nami moved forward, into the island......  
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Ch.1 is now finished! Now to get on Ch.2!  
  
Ch.2 Preview! Luffy and Rousse finally meet face to face! What will happen when these two pirates meet? Also, Luffy talks to Nami about the time of his life where Shanks and his crew were living in his home town, and finally, Luffy returns back to the ship with a strange fruit in his hands.........  
  
Read and Review. ^^' Thanks! ^_^ 


	2. The Search for Food, Love, and Histories...

One Piece - Island of the Gum Gums - Chapter 2  
  
Written by Steven Kunz the Fan Author  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own nor invent One Piece. This excellent manga was written and drawn by Eiichiro Oda.  
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As Rousse walked through the thick foilage of this seemingly huge forest, his minds focus back before the ship crash, before the storm, and before he went to the Naval Base Town.  
  
What his mind was focusing on the few moments before he went out to sea and while he was out at sea in the beginning, he managed to get a glimpse of Straw Hat Luffy at work with his powers.  
  
His mind drifts back to the moment where Rousse was about to leave at sea. He sees in his mind himself running away carrying a wooden box, and next to him was a young woman running besides him, telling him to stop.  
Soon, Rousse got to the boat and tossed the box in there. It landed on the edge of the ship, causing it to open and inside were his samurai sword and his two favorite pistols. He smiled and thought to himself, "Good."  
  
Soon, the young woman catches up to him, but then trips and lands right into his chest and was caught by Rousse's arms around her.  
  
She blinked for a moment, then stood herself up and looked into his eyes as he looked right back into hers. He quickly took a quick glance up and down her. She had dark brown hair with red highlets, and she wore a cotton black vest with a white blouse underneath, a dark blue skirts, and black shoes that were meant to be worn for women. She blushed for a second as she noticed him looking up and down and said, "What are you looking at? Besides, you have to go before they catch you! This is no real time to say Goodbye!"  
  
Rousse smiled and whispered in her ear, "Hey, don't worry, Jen. Whatever happens, I'll come back for sure, I promise."  
  
She smiled and leaned forward, wanting him to kiss her when all of a sudden, he pushed her off the dock and into the ocean. He quickly got onto the dinghy, adjusted the sails so that the wind would push him forward, and he began to row forward out of the dock.  
  
Soon, the young woman poked her head out of the water and yelled, "Hey! What was that for?!"  
  
Before Rousse went totally out of sight, he smiled widely and said, "Like I said, there's no time for goodbyes, and if anyone asked, you tried to stop the bad guy, but didn't succeed."  
  
She blinked, then chuckled and smiled right back at him. "Okay.....I hope you come back someday! Don't ever forget me!!"  
  
"I won't. Goodbye, Jennifer!" He yelled and waved back before his ship was just a tiny dot on what appeared to be the other side of the ocean for Jennifer.  
Rousse continued to move through the foilage like it was a huge net. As he kept moving across, a small tear ran across his cheek, remember Jennifer and how he left her behind.   
  
He went across a huge leaf and he accidently brushed his cheek against the tip of it. He stopped and looked at his tear, which had moved into the tiny bits of dew at the tip of the leaf. Soon, the tear was at the very end, and it went away from the tip of the leaf to a small white flower that hasn't bloomed yet. When the tear landed on the flower, it caused it to spread it's petals apart, showing a white ring on the outer edges of the flower and a slightly darker tint of white in the inner part of the flower.  
  
Rousse smiled and picked up the flower. He sniffed it real quick and muttered to herself, "A perfect gift for her...." He hooked the flower to his shirt with a pin and smiled. "That will keep it safe until I see her again."  
  
With that in mind, he kept walking forward towards the center of the island.  
  
~  
  
"Luffy!!" Nami yelled at Luffy again. She was yelling at him because Luffy wanted something sweet to eat, and decided to use his stretching powers to take a look at some of the trees nearby. However, instead of looking at some of the trees, he looked at all the trees, which really was making Nami mad. She wasn't interested in searching every tree. Instead, she wanted to explore more of the center of the island because it seemed more appropriate to find some food since it was more likely to appear there.  
  
Soon, Luffy finished looking through his latest tree and got himself back to normal. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "There's nothing here, Nami. Let's go."  
  
They were going to go when Nami looked at Luffy and noticed he was missing something. She pointed behind him to the same tree he looked.  
  
He blinked and turned around, gasping at what he saw. It was his favorite hat and it was caught between a few branches. When he saw his hat, he felt a little lighter as he placed his hand on his head, feeling his hair. Immediately, he stretched his arms upward so that he can grab his hat carefully and put it back on his head.  
  
As Luffy was doing that, Nami stared at him. She was still a bit in awe over his powers, but what she was in awe was Luffy himself. Staring at his face, she smiled since Luffy was very inexperienced and an amateur at being a pirate, yet he was very determined on being the King of Pirates, and his determination often overlapped his inexperience which made him a great leader.  
  
When he got his hat back, he placed it on his head and turned to Nami, who had a pink blush on his face. He blinked and asked, "Nami, what's wrong? Are you feeling okay?"  
  
She shook off her blush and replied. "Oh, it's nothing. It's just....well...you told me a friend of yours gave you that hat, which gave you the motivation to be a pirate, right?"  
  
"Uh huh. That's right." He said, taking off his hat and giving it to Nami for a moment.  
  
She looked all around it and asked, handing the hat back to Luffy. "Well....who did this belong to, Luffy?"  
  
"Well...." He said, putting the hat back on his head. "This belonged to a great man, at least a great man to me. He was a pirate too, and everyone called him 'Red-Haired' Shanks."  
  
She nodded as she sat herself down on whatever she could find, which was a huge rock that was on the ground. She patted the ground, telling Luffy to come sit next to her. When he walked over to her and sat down right next to her, she bent her head and sifted her hair with her fingers, hiding the blush on her face.  
  
Luffy didn't notice her blush as he took off his hat, handed it to Nami, and continued on with his story. "You see, when I was a child, Shanks and his own crew were using my hometown as a base of operations for one year. I suppose I was impressed with what he was doing, and I wanted to go on an adventure like he was doing everytime he went on another voyage. However, he had always said I was simply too young to go with him and his crew on an adventure. I got so frustrated that I stabbed myself in the face with a knife to prove how tough I thought I was." He stopped for a moment and pointed to the left side of his face, where there was a small scar right below his left eye.  
  
Nami nodded her and lifted her arm, gently brushing her fingers across his scar. Her face turned slightly redder as he touched him. She lowered her arm and bent her head again slightly lower, hoping Luffy didn't see the blush. She said very quietly, "Go on. Is there anything else, Luffy?"  
  
He did notice the blush on her face and looked at her in confusion. However, he didn't want to pry and ask what was wrong with Nami, so he continued on. "Anyway, on that same day, a bad group of mountain bandits came to our town and started to make fun of Shanks and make a mess of the bar. Since he didn't fight back, I was going to search for a new role model, but then he grabbed my arm and it stretched. That's when I realized that the fruit I ate earlier while I was sitting with Shanks had made my body like rubber. However, as you already know, I ended up not being able to swim again for the rest of my life."  
  
While Luffy thought about what to say next, Nami's heart pouned faster with each silent moment as she to thought about what to do next. "When I brushed my fingers against her scar, I almost wanted to grab his cheek and kiss him. Even though Luffy ain't the smartest guy in the world, he really is very loyal to his friends and very kind to his crew and to strangers. I...I don't know whether I really would love it if I can just hold him right now......"  
  
Nami's thoughts suddenly drifted back to a long time ago, when she was a little girl. She remembered everything that has happened, and her sorrowful face suddenly grimaced as she yelled to herself, "He's a pirate though, and I hate pirates! I just hate them so much! All pirates, deep down, are eventually the same despite how nice they try to act!"  
  
"Are you alright, Nami?" Luffy suddenly said, breaking Nami's concentration. He placed a hand on her shoulder and grinned at her.  
  
"I think....I can just one exception for Luffy. He is unlike anyone I've met before." Nami thought to herself. She then looked at Luffy and she blushed slightly red without knowing it. "Yeah, Luffy, I'm fine."  
  
He blinked and saw the blush on her face. "Are you sure, Nami? Your face is red. Are you sick?"   
  
He placed a hand on her cheek and her face turned bright red as she felt her heart beat eveen faster and her face warming up due to her blushing. Luffy said. "Yeah....you are starting to warm up a little. Maybe we should get you back to where everyone is?"  
  
She lifted her head and sputtered out. "N...no, no! I'm fine! I'm fine! I'm just a littie tired, that's all. We did leave the ship kinda early, you know?"  
  
He nodded his head and grinned. "Yeah, I guess we did. You want to get back to searching for food?"  
  
"In a minute." She smiled back at him with her face back to normal. She then scooted close to Luffy so that they'd be sitting right next to each other. "Can I hear the rest of your story first?"  
  
"Sure!" He said quite loudly and went on. "When Shanks went on another voyage, those mountain bandits came back and were making fun of him. Because I had stood up for Shanks, I was being beaten up by those bandits when Shanks and his crew came and knocked them all out. I was about to be saved when the leader ran off with me onto a rowboat in the middle of the ocean. He kicked me off before I can punch him even once. After that, the local sea monster came up from behind and ate his ship. He was about to go for me when Shanks suddenly appeared and pulled me back. Unfortunately, he lost his arm in the process. At that moment, I did understand what Shanks meant I was too little to go on a voyage with him. I was just not strong and well-prepared enough to face monsters like that out in the middle of the sea. When he said back at my hometown that I would never become a pirate, that was when I said I'd be the King of Pirates. After that, he gave me his hat for safekeeping and left forever. 10 years after that, I finally left home to search for a crew. The rest of what happened after that is stuff everyone knows about already."  
  
Nami was taken back by his story as she tries to find the right words to express what she is feeling right now. "Wow...Luffy...that was amazing. I never knew you were so determined to become a pirate.."  
  
"Yeah...well, I'm far more determined than you think!" He said very loudly, not caring about who heard it.  
  
Nami didn't really pay attention to that. She bent her again to attempt to hide the blush. All she wanted to do now was to hold Luffy and whisper how she feels. "Please....let me have courage.........."  
  
However, that moment was interrupted when they both heard rustling from one side of where they were sitting. They both leapt off the rock and peered toward where the rustling came from. A sound like someone tripping and crashing over many layers of branches and leaves was heard from the other side.  
  
"Aw, Damn!!!" A voice was heard as someone came crashing down from where the sounds came from and landed flat on his face. When he landed onto the ground, a single flintock pistol was shuffled from him and settled a few feet away from him. Engraved on the gun was the name, "Rousse Le-Onne."  
  
He slowly got up on his knees, struggling a little to get up. He lifted his head a little and saw his gun on the ground. He reached for it and picked it up. When he did pick it up, he saw two pairs of feet. One pair was wearing sandals while the other was wearing boots.  
  
"Oh, thank God! People are here!" He lifted his slowly and looked up at the faces of Luffy and Nami. "I'm really glad you're here, you see, I got shipwre......."  
  
He stopped what he was going to say when he saw Luffy's face. He was so surprised that he leapt to his feet and placed his hands on his samurai sword, thinking. "Oh no! Not Luffy! I can't fight him now, and yet, this may be the only time I can fight him!"  
  
Luffy blinked as Rousse unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Luffy. "Straw-Hat Luffy! I challenge you to a one and one duel right now! Come on, let's go!"  
  
He looked at Rousse in confusion and said back. "What?! Hold on a minute! I just met you! We shouldn't fight at all!!"  
  
Rousse raised an eyebrow at him and thought to himself, "Hmm....this can't be THE Luffy. The Luffy I've heard about from the leftover crew at Alvida's base and from those guys at the Naval Base is an extremely strong fighter, yet this guy won't even throw a punch."  
  
He smirked as he got an idea. He raised his sword a little higher and pointed at his hat. "Why don't we make this fight interesting? If you win, I'll leave you alone forever, but if I win, you'll give me that straw hat!"  
  
Luffy suddenly was in shock. He placed a firm hand on the top of his hat and spat out, "My hat?! No way! Besides, even if I put it up in a fight, what would you do with it?!"  
  
"Use it as kindling. That hat seems totally worthless to me." Rousse replied with an evil grin on his face.  
  
"WHAT?!" Luffy yelled at Rousse. He grabbed his hat and handed it to Nami. "Here. Keep it safe for me, please!"  
  
Before even Nami could say a word, Luffy pulled his arm back and thrusted his arm at Rousse as hard and as fast as he can, stretching it as far as he can towards Rousse. He simply lifted his Samurai Sword and blocked it. He did under-estimate Luffy's strength as he felt himself being pushed back a few feet. When Luffy finished his first punch, he pulled his other arm back and pulled it forward, streching his arm and fist toward Rousse's face. He countered again by raising his arm and grabbing Luffy's fist. However, when he grabbed it, the palm of his hand became immediately sore.  
  
"Wow! He's stronger than I thought!" Rousse thought to himself. He was going to push Luffy's arms back by stepping forward, but then Luffy used his fingers to grab the flat of his sword and he shifted his wrist of his other hand so that he'd be grabbing his thumb and part of his wrist. He then leapt forward and moved his body forward so that it could go back to normal. Rousse gasped as he quickly figured out what to do. He simply dropped his weapons and fell backwards so that he can lie on his back.  
  
"Agh!!!!" Luffy yelled out as his plan backfired as he felt himself flying over Rousse and landing hard against a tree. When he got off the ground and rubbed his head, he gasped as Rousse had one of his pistols raised at Nami.  
  
"All right, Straw-Hat Luffy! You're not the great fighter I had hoped, but maybe you'll turn into one when I do this to your loved one!" Rousse yelled out.  
  
"Loved one?!" The two words rang out in both Luffy and Nami's mind as both of them blushed for a moment. However, Nami's face turned to fear as Rousse gripped tighter on the handle of his gun while Luffy's face was of extreme anger. Without hesitation, he pulled his arm back thrusted it forward at the gun. It landed right on his knuckles, causing Rousse to drop his gun and his hand to be extremely sore. He then grabbed his hand and leapt forward, ready to punch Rousse in the face. He soon landed right in front of him and swung at his face. Rousse, however, shifted his head to the right and swung his head downward at Luffy's forehead as hard as he can.   
  
When his forehead landed agaisnt his forehead, Luffy let go of his hand and stepped back. He rubbed his head real quick, then took another quick swing at Rousse. This time, Rousse was hit and he was sent flying towards that same tree that Luffy landed against earlier.  
  
"I've had enough of you! You've threatened to destroy my most prized possession and kill my friend! Don't you ever go near my sight again!!" Luffy yelled out at Rousse as he struggled to get up.  
  
He soon began to chuckle a little as he got up on his knees and slowly got up.   
  
"What's so funny?!" Luffy shouted at him.   
  
Rousse lifted his head and showed a gentle smile on his face despite one cheek starting to turn swollen. "You really are strong, Luffy. Moreso than I expected."  
  
He walked forward and stood in front of Luffy who was ready to punch him in the face again. Rousse suddenly said which surprised Luffy and Nami. "I'm sorry for offending and making you mad. I only wanted to see you fight with all your power so that I can find out why you're so strong."  
  
Luffy blinked then looked at him very suspeciously. "Oooookay....."  
  
"Tell me, Luffy. How are you able to fight like that? I've only seen you use that one punch while you were at sea alone." Rousse asked, remembering the time when he had just started to sail on his own too. He was drifting as well since he had little to no navigational skills. He remembered seeing Luffy on his rowboat standing up to a huge sea monster that had frequented that area for a while. He used his Gum Gum Pistol attack to knock out the poor monster in one shot.  
  
"Oh....that! Well, I ate this weird fruit called the Gum Gum Fruit! It's supposed to make your body like rubber, but you won't be able to swim ever again." He said back a bit enthusiastically.  
  
"Gum Gum Fruit, you say? Well, seems like a small price to pay for power like that." Rousse replied, taking a quick glance at Nami, who was still a little frightened of him.  
  
"Hey Mister! Why are you out at sea anyway? Are you a pirate or part of the Navy?" Luffy asked.  
  
Rousse shook his head and said right back, his eyes focusing on Nami's frightened look then Luffy's curiousity. "You can call me a wandering mercenary. I do rather dangerous jobs for other people, but I only take jobs that are for naturally good people. Also, I guess you can say I'm running away from my home and I'm preparing to come back sometime in the future."  
  
Nami suddenly blinked and looked at Rousse, now a little bit more intrigued by who Rousse is. "Running away from home, yet you're coming back in the future?"  
  
"That's right, Miss." Rousse said to her.  
  
Nami remained silent as both Luffy looked back and forth between Rousse and Nami. He finally interrupted by saying. "Well, I'm sorry to stop talking, but I'm starting to get hungry! Nami, shall we go look around some more?"  
  
She nodded her head, but then turned back to Rousse for a moment. Rousse noticed her looking at him and turned to Luffy. "Actually, would it be too much if I can talk with....Nami here for a moment?"  
  
Luffy blinked and hesitatntly said to him. "Okay...I guess. Nami, don't be too long! It's kinda hard to search alone."  
  
"Okay, I won't be too long." She replied.  
  
While Luffy went off into the woods again, Rousse and Nami walked over to that same rock she and Luffy were sitting at a moment ago.  
  
Both of them were figuring out what to say when Nami finally broke the silence and said. "So......if you do not mind, what are you running away from at home?"  
  
"Um...." Rousse thought about it for a moment and said. "Since I don't really know you that well, I'll just say this. I'm running away from my family. You see, my entire family was involved in crime, and they all enjoyed it. However, I was the only one who hated it. When my father committed a rather horrible crime, I had to tell the Navy. They came over and arrested nearly my entire family. However, only my father and my brother and their crew were the only ones left. I had to pack up my stuff and leave to make sure they never know I was the one who turned them in. Unfortunately, when I was packing my weapons, they found out and their crew was chasing to kill me. I had barely snuck away from them and went out to sea."  
  
"Oh....." Nami said, feeling herself equally stunned by both Luffy's and Rousse's history. "I see why you're running away, but why do you want to come back?"  
  
"Because, Miss Nami, my family that was in prison told the Navy that I was part of their crime circle and wanted a way out. Because of that, I'm guilty by association, and I can't really go back and prove myself innocent. However, since my father and my brother are out at sea, if I can catch them and bring them back to the Navy there, I should be free of my accused crime forever." He said.  
  
Nami remained silent as he finished what he had to say very quickly. "There's something else too. I heard that the Navy had a recent fallout with one of it's smaller battalions. From what I've researched, this batallion went renegade and AWOL so that they can do what they felt was necessary to end piracy. Basically, they're dangerous vigilantes without any motive or cause to acheive. I think that the Navy that had arrived to arrested nearly my entire family were the same vigilantes who left the Navy."  
  
"Hmm...that's awful, Mister. I'm sorry." She said while patting him on the back.   
  
"Thanks, Nami." He said with a faint smile on his face, the swollen cheek slowly receding. "But how about you?" You seem so interested in what I've had to say. Did something similar happen to you?"  
  
Nami crept away from him as she sputtered out, "I...I see. Well, since you're not a pirate, I'll tell you this. I'm trying to pay off a huge debt that I owe a really bad pirate. I have to pay the debt and buy back the island where I was born. My mother was going to pay it, but when she said she had no children, me and my sister foolishly rushed in and hugged her, not knowing what she had just said. She died, but she got to hold us at least one last time." Soon, her eyes grew very water as she continued on. "That same pirate placed the debt on me back then, and since then, I've had to save up all my money so that I can buy back my home....."  
  
Rousse showed a face of sadness as he sympathized with Nami over what has happened to her when she was young. He too patted her on the back and said to her, "Listen, Nami, I'm real sorry over what's happened. If it were me, I'd go beat up that evil pirate, and since you have Luffy, you should be able to whoop him quite easily!"  
  
"It's not as simple as that......" She muttered. She then looked at him with a tear begnning to generate on the edge of her eyes. "But still, thank you for listening. I just wish I can tell Luffy that."  
  
Rousse smiled gently at Nami and stood up. "Well, I'm sorry, but I must be going. I too, have to search for food, or else I'll starve." He turned to Nami and winked at her with a thumbs-up. "Remember what I said, okay? There's still a chance to do something about it than save up money!"  
  
"I will." She said, wiping away the tiny tears that had appeared on the edge of her eyes. Rousse walked off as Nami held herself close and bent her head. She soon began to tear up again as she wondered what to do.  
  
From behind her, Luffy sat there crouching and overhearing the conversation. He had in his hands a collection of fruit he had found, even one small fruit with tiny swirls on the outside of the fruit. He was going to walk in, but then he heard both of Nami's and Rousse's stories. Not wanting to interrupt the moment, he sat back and listened. However, he didn't want to walk in now and have Nami assume he was spying on her.   
  
Soon, he felt his heart beating a little bit faster as he stared at Nami from the sad, seeing her cry. "Nami...."  
  
That name repeated in his mind for a few moments as his face turned slightly red too. After a few moments of thinking, Luffy got an idea. He gathered all the fruit he had and held it all together with his one arm. He then grabbed a branch and stepped back, letting it stretch a few meters. "I hope this works...."  
  
Luffy leapt off his feet and he soon propelled through the branches and screamed right over Nami's head, colliding right into another tree.  
  
She sweatdropped and walked over to Luffy. When he opened his eyes, she yelled out, "You moron! What caused you to do that?!"  
  
"Well....I was a little far off than I had expected, so I used my Gum Gum Rocket to get me here faster. I must have misjudged how far I went." Luffy said very weakly, his head now hurting quite a bit.  
  
Nami groaned and sighed. She picked up all the fruit he had dropped and placed it on his lap. She then grabbed him by the back of his vest and dragged him back to the ship.  
  
"Boy....some guy I've taken a liking to..." She thought to herself, not realizing the words she had just thought out.  
  
Meanwhile, Luffy grinned under the shadow of his hat and thought to himself. "Nami, I do understand your situation, and when you tell me about it one day, I'll surely help you, but for now, I'll remain quiet. It'll best for both you and me....."  
When they got back to the ship, the bottom part of the ship's front hull was fixed completely while the top half was starting to be rebuilt. Zoro and Usopp wiped the sweat off their foreheads as they put down their tools and went to pick their selection of fruit that was now spread out in front of them.  
  
Soon, everyone had a fruit of their own. Zoro had his hands on an apple while Nami was eating a tangerine rather enthusiastically. Usopp had gotten a pear of his own while Luffy ended up with that strange fruit he really didn't feel like eating.  
  
When Zoro had finished eating his apple, he saw Luffy trying to decide what to do with the weird fruit he had. He looked over and asked, "Uh....Luffy, aren't you going to eat that?"  
  
He looked back at Zoro and said. "Oh, I am, it's just that I've thinking about where else I've seen this fruit from. It's kinda familiar...."  
  
"Ah, okay." Zora said, pitching his apple core into the forest in front of them. Suddenly, Luffy gasped and stood up. Everyone asked what it was when Luffy said rather nervously, "This.......this is the Gum Gum Fruit!"  
  
They gasped right back at him as he wondered what to do with it. He was really hungry, yet he didn't want to eat it out of fear at what would happen if he ate more of it. He decided to go with his fear and he tossed it back into the woods.  
  
Everyone took a deep breath, happy Luffy made the right choice. Usopp finally stepped up and said,"Wow....I've seen that fruit too when I was....out exploring with my crew a long time ago....yeah...."  
  
Luffy ignored him and said back to him. "Yeah.....but what was weird was that I saw lots of trees near the middle of the island with fruit like that!"  
  
"WHAT?!!!" Everyone yelled out as they were stunned by this new discovery.  
  
~  
  
Rousse sat against a tall tropic tree, thinking about what to do now. He had found no edible food, and now that he had realized what the Gum Gum Fruit can do if consumed, he wasn't so confident if he should eat it. He was rather tempted tho since he was sittind right next to a collection of trees that bear the Gum Gum Fruit upon it's branches!  
  
As Rousse struggled with his hunger and his fear, he felt something hit the top of his head. He reached behind him and found what had hit him. It was the Gum Gum Fruit that Luffy had tossed in the middle of the woods that same moment from the shore. Rousse really wanted to eat the fruit and be satisfied of his hunger, but he didn't want to inherit the powers after all. In the end, hunger was stronger than pride as he greedily consumed the fruit in a few big bites.  
  
Soon, Rousse relaxed as he was quite full with the fruit. After a few minutes, he felt his energy returning as he stood up, eager to test his streching powers.  
  
He stepped back and pulled his arm back, eager to imitate Luffy's attack. He knows that the fruit would work immediately on him, so he pulled it even further back and thrusted forward. However, it didn't stretch like it was supposed to. He got angry and tried it again, but that didn't work either.  
  
Rousse then got an idea. He grabbed onto one of the trees and walked as far as he can. However, his arm didn't stretch. He figured that maybe the fruit would take a long while to take effect, so he waited an hour. He was suspecious since it worked immediately on Luffy although he wasn't able to control it at first.  
  
After waiting an hour, he held onto the base of the tree and walked again. However, his arm didn't stretch. In fact, nothing worked at all.  
  
As Rousse stood by the tree and looked at the palm of his hands, he thought to himself, "This....this isn't the real Gum Gum Fruit at all..........."  
_________________________________________________________________________________  
Ch.2 done! Now working on Ch.3  
  
Preview of Ch.3 - Rousse tells all about his family's crime connections and tells of a secret project funded by other pirates simply dubbed "Project: Gum-Gum Power"; Luffy tries to explain his new-found feelings for Nami as she finds herself becoming more happier by the moment; Rousse is knocked out and is kidnapped aboard his father's ship! Will a family reunion take place, or will his father and brother punish Rousse for turning his entire family in?  
  
Thanks for reading! Read and Review Please! ^___^ Special Thanks for Sylphiel for giving me help on detail on the One Piece storyline. ^^ 


	3. A Lovable Moment Accidently Coming True

One Piece - Island of the Gum Gums - Chapter 3   
  
Written by Steven Kunz the Fan Author  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own nor invent One Piece. This excellent manga was written and drawn by Eiichiro Oda.  
  
_________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Zoro, Usopp, Luffy, and Nami were almost finished building the hull of the ship. Zoro and Usopp could only get the bottom half of the hull finished by themselves, and it was certainly very difficult to do unless you were harnassed by a rope, which they didn't even have, due to their lack of basic supplies. However, with Luffy stretching upward and also using his arms as an improvised harness, the gang was able to get it nearly to the point of completion.  
  
Luffy, now doing the rest of the ship repair by himself, placed the last board of wood onto the hull of the ship by stretching his legs upward and with that same board under his arm. He laid it upon a tiny support pillar near the front of the ship, grabbed a hammer and the remaining nails they had left and nailed in the last board around the corners and in the area where the pillar was.  
  
Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he lowered his body back to his normal posture and stretched for a few seconds. Everyone that was there took a quiet sigh of pride at a job well done. Luffy was silent however as he looked at the ship for a moment, then bent his head.  
  
Nami looked toward his direction and asked with some concern in her voice. "Luffy, what's wrong? Did you see somewhere we missed?"  
  
He showed that wide grin he was always known for and at that instant, he thrusted his arms forward, accidently pushing Nami away onto the ground and yelled, "We finished! Now we can continue on to the Grand Line!!!!"  
  
Everyone cheered while Nami slowly got to her knees. Although she wasn't hurt, she was a little angry at Luffy once again. She was going to yell loudly at him again, but then she saw how happy he was at the results of everyone's labor as he leapt high in the air and yelled quite happily with his arms still high in the air.  
  
"I suppose I'll let him enjoy himself for now. Besides, whenever I see him this happy....it makes me happy too." She thought to himself as she sat there just staring at him.  
  
Luffy stopped for a moment and noticed Nami still on the ground. He held his hand out as he said to her, "Sorry about that. Need some help, Nami?"  
  
She blinked and then smiled as she laid her hand upon his. A very tiny blush appeared on Luffy's face as an even bigger blush was on Nami's face. He then lifted her up into the air as he jumped with her, cheering over what they had done.   
  
As Luffy was jumping up and down with Nami, she looked a quick glance at their hands held together and grew even happier as she too cheered like Luffy.  
  
~  
  
Meanwhile, Rousse had his hands full at the moment. Realizing that the Gum-Gum Fruit was not the real fruit, he had feasted on all the food that he can get his hands on. Since he was nearly starving, it was a huge relief.  
  
Everytime he ate the fake Gum-Gum Fruit, he had tested his body to see if it stretched, and each time he tested his body, it only confirmed the fact once again that it was not the real thing.  
  
When he was done feasting, he felt really sleepy and laid his body against a set of bushes and trees, not wanting to fall asleep at all. He wound up falling asleep anyway as his minds and thoughts drifted into a dream.  
  
In Rousse's dream, he saw in his head flashes of many images in his life, from when he was a little kid growing up, to when he met Jennifer, and the moments he had in his life that stood out in the dream, making those segments apparently longer.  
  
In one such segment, Rousse saw himself when he was 5 years old. He was at his home, running around. He ran up to his father and looked upward. All he can see through his younger self were grey pants and black dress shoes as he walked up to him and tugged his pants, urging him to play with him.   
  
"Dad, dad! I'm bored! Can you play with me?!" He yelled out.  
  
"No, Rousse, I have work to do! I've told you for the last three times to stop bugging me! Why don't you ask Mom?" His father spat out at him.  
  
"But......Mommy's busy too with chores. I don't want to bother her...."   
  
"Well, that's too bad! I have important work to do, so please give me some time..." He walked away until another kid came on by and asked him to play with him.  
  
Rousse's father smiled as he rubbed the kid's head and said, "Sure, son. Actually, I've got a little free time after I've finished checking these documents. Give me a minute, okay?"  
  
"All Right!" He yelled out as he headed to his father's study. Rousse's father walked out and followed the kid, leaving Rousse all by himself. He walked over to the living room and sat himself onto the couch. He sat there and looked at the ground, thinking to himself, "Father is so busy with his work, and Mother is never home at all. Both of them always pay more attention to my brother, Takanachi, and what's worse is that every day, after I come home from school and away from Jenny, I just feel so alone......"  
  
He clutched his knees, burying his head under his arms, and cried quite softly, wanting someone to be there with one. Before he cried any longer, he felt someone placed a hand on his head. He lifted his face and saw an older woman wearing a grey skirt, a grey sport coat, a white dress shirt, and a black tie rubbing his hair and said to him, "Rousse....I'm so sorry that me and your father have been busy to pay attention to you.....would it be okay if you and I played?"  
  
Rousse felt his pang of loneliness fade away as he leapt and hugged his mother tightly, feeling fresh tears slide down his cheeks. "Oh Mom! Thank you! Thank you so much!!"  
  
She was taken back, not realyl expecting Rousse's gratitude and held her son and said, "It's okay, Rousse. It's just that we haven't been paying as much attention as we should have. Despite the fact that Takanachi was born and you're not really our natural son doesn't change the fact that we love you all the same...."  
  
It was Rousse's turn to be surprised as he cried once again, not wanting to let go of his mom because of the fact that she does care for him.  
  
All of a sudden, another image flashed in his head, overlapping the vision of the early part of his childhood. Rousse rememered this quite well.  
  
It was two years after Rousse knew his mother still loved him as if he was her flesh and blood son. It was raining heavily and the dark grey clouds made the sky very dark and very dull.  
  
There was a group of people dressed in black and white clothing as they looked upon the priest consoloing the families there. Among the people sitting in the group was Rousse. He had his head bent head, crying quite loudly over the death of his mother. It was determined she died of natural causes, though the circumstances were quite different. Rousse's father and Takanachi sat there, both of them quite sad that she was gone, but they were not showing any emotion over the sight of her coffin.  
  
When the service was over, Rousse told his father and his brother that he would stay there for a moment to reflect. They walked home, leaving him in the cemetary.  
  
From the last of the people that left, a young girl about the same age as Rousse walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw the girl who had walked up to him. She had tied her blond hair into a curly ponytail that laid against the shoulders of her black dress which she felt absolutely uncomfortable in.  
  
She looked at Rousse and said, "Rousse, I know you're sad about this, and I know you may not want to hear this, but.......this will pass one day and you'll be able to live your life peacefully once again. However, until then, if you need someone to talk to, I'll be here for you."  
  
He blushed slightly at that gentle smile she exhibited and hugged her tightly, sobbing at her shoulder. "Jenny!"  
  
She held him close, stroking the back of his head as she whispered, "It's okay....."   
  
Rousse continued to cry on her shoulder as Jennifer just stood there holding him close, wanting to do everything she can do to make him happy once again.  
  
Rousse suddenly woke up and leapt forward, coming to an immediate halt. He breathes heavily as he thought to himself, "Only a dream...."  
  
He then felt the wind blow through him as he looked up and saw it was now night-time. He also felt a tiny portion of cheek that wasn't being as cooled from the wind. He moved his fingers across his cheek and looked at it. The tips of his fingers were slightly wet from the tears he had cried out in his dream.  
  
Immediately, he wiped away any remaining tears, cleaned his cheeks, and walked toward the other side of the island as he planned to do earlier in the day.  
  
~  
  
"Good Night, everyone!" Luffy yelled out at everyone before he went to bed.  
  
"Night!" Everyone yelled out, going to their respective rooms for rest. However, after a few minutes, Nami slowly crept out out of her room, closed it quietly, and snuck inside Luffy's room.  
  
She tip-toed quietly to the edge of his bed as she just felt like hanging out with him at the moment. However, Luffy was fast asleep.  
  
She leaned forward, feeling her heart beat even faster and her face warming up.. She thought to herself, "He looks so peaceful when he's asleep. He looks....so natural....so kind.....so sweet......."  
  
She leaned forward, wanting to kiss him. However, she felt her body freeze as she moved nearer. With only a few inches away from his face, she stroked his hair, since his hat was safely tucked in a spot somewhere in his room.  
  
Unfortunately, Luffy had just fallen asleep, and when she felt her fingers moving through his hair, he suddenly bolted up out of bed in order to see who was there. However, when he lifted himself out of bed, he had accidently lifted Nami so that they were now staring into each other's eyes, and also, when he had lifted himself up, he had also accidently pressed his lips against hers, causing both of their faces to blush deep red.  
  
Nami was so surprised by this that she did not want to move and ruin the moment. However, her slight temptation coerced her to place her hands at his hips and kiss his lips, parting them to look into his eyes.  
  
"Luffy...." She whispered back.  
  
Luffy was stunned. He had never fallen in love before since there was no one he really felt attracted to. However, after staring into her eyes, he did feel his heart beating faster too as he whispered her name back.  
  
Luffy also placed his hands at her waist, trying to find what to say. Feeling their emotions taking over their minds, they leaned forward and were ready to kiss eachother back.   
  
However, something had struck Luffy's window which interrupted the romantic moment, something that sounded like rapping against a door or window.  
  
After a few seconds of awkward hesitation, Luffy got up, grabbed his hat, placed it on his head, and walked to the window. When he opened it, he felt a tiny rock landing against his forehead. He looked down and saw Rousse on the beach below them, waving him to come out.  
  
He nodded his head as he began to inch his body out of the window. Immediately, Nami pulled him back onto the bed and said to him quietly, "Where are you going?!"  
  
"That one guy that attacked us earlier, he's outside! I think he wants me to talk to him again, Nami." Luffy said back, his earlier confidence starting to come back.  
  
She gasped softly as she wondered what to do. Eventuallly, she got rid of her hesitation and said, "Can I go?"  
  
"Sure!" He said with that grin of his as he inched towards the window and thrusted his arm toward a tree to grab on. When he layed hands on the bark of the tree, he placed his other hand on Nami's waist and after helping her out the window, he leapt off the ship and used his stretched arm to catapult toward the beach floor.  
  
When he set Nami down, he walked over to Rousse and asked, "Hey, Mister! What's going on? Why did you call us out here in the middle of the night?"  
  
Rousse remained silent, then reached from behind and tossed him a piece of fruit. When Luffy caught it and took a quick glance at it, he looked back at Rousse with bug eyes and said, "This is the Gum-Gum Fruit.......don't tell me you ate it?!"  
  
"Yeah, I did....but it's not real. I must have feasted on this fruit for a while, and there has been no effect whatsoever to my body." Rousse said very quickly.  
  
"I see.....well, what the heck is an island with tons of fruit like this doing in the middle of the sea?" Nami asked him, hoping he'll say at least something in response.  
  
Rousse hesitated and said, "My family, the Le-Onne family, aren't my real family. I was adopted when I was just a little baby. However, only my mother and my best friend, Jennifer treated me with any form of love and respect. My father and my brother never liked me and were always mistreating and ignoring me. Also, the Le-Onne family was also a crime family. In fact, it turns out our entire family dating back from when Gold Roger, the Pirate King, had been involved with many devious crimes, but it had been kept secret for many years. Anyway, after my mother died when I was only a entering my grammar school years, I had no one but Jennifer, and she had convinced me to tell the police about our family since it would have a easier sentence if he is caught. However, I never got the courage to until very recently, when I overheard my father talking about a secret project involving the Devil Fruit."  
  
Both Luffy and Nami's eyebrows perked up as they said in unison, "Devil Fruit?"  
  
Rousse took a deep breath and carefully explained to Luffy and Nami the rest of the story. "Yeah, you heard right. My father had always been interested on how eating the Devil Fruit can make your body stronger, but he never understood why it should have such obvious weaknesses. For example, Luffy, you may be able to stretch like rubber, but you certainly cannot swim. That is the fruit's main weakness. My father was also interested in the Chop-Chop Fruit, but he paid less attention to that fruit. Realizing something, he decided to fuse the two fruits together and add another variant to the equation, making both powers work together and with no weaknesses. Also, I heard that that he's making another Devil Fruit based on his experiments with the two versother fruit's data. However, along with his original experiment of using the seeds from the fruit to make the composite fruit, he tried his best to make a man-made version of the Gum-Gum Fruit to say to other crime families and pirates who desire the power. This was the result of his experiments, and it seems the great experiment failed badly. All he's made is lots of bad-tasting fruit."  
  
Both Nami and Luffy blinked as they were in awe over Rousse's story. The two were still curious because it sounded like there was more to Rousse than what met their eyes.  
  
"Anyway, after gathering the courage to tell on my father, it seems a rouge faction of the Navy came to arrest the family, but when they did arrest the group, my brother sent some mercenaries out to kill me before I escaped. I was lucky, and I did however. When I just started on my journey, I spotted you in action, Luffy, and caught sight of you knocking out that one sea monster in one tremendous punch. Being in total awe of your power, I decided to follow you and ask. However, you were caught in that whirlpool and I lost track of you temporarily. Now that I know your origins of your power and that the fruit doesn't work...it looks like I have to develop my own strengths all by myself, not by some strange fruit." Rousse concluded, rubbing the back of his head with a bashful expression on his face  
  
Luffy and Nami remained silent, not knowing what to say. However, as the story led toward it's end, they ended up holding hands without them knowing. The silence was broken when Rousse asked Luffy very nervously, "Um......would it be okay if I can sleep on the beach nearby? I really don't want to sleep on the other side of the beach, nor do I want to sleep in the forest?"  
  
Soon, Luffy grinned again and said, "Sure! You're a friend to me now, and I'm sorry for earlier! Let's just forget that, okay?"  
  
Rousse smirked and nodded his head. "Thanks, Luffy. Oh, by the way, my name is Rousse. Rousse Le-Onne." He then walked off a few feet away from Luffy, making him somewhat hard to tell in the middle of the night. Both Luffy and Nami stared at Rousse as he walked toward the other part of the beach.  
  
"HEY!! You two! What's going on?!" A loud voice was heard right behind them.  
  
Immediately, Luffy and Nami turned around and took a breath of relief. It was Zoro and Usopp staring at the two from the ship deck. He then tossed a rope over and said, "Here, need some help?"  
  
Immediately, Luffy grinned and said, "Yeah." He then walked over and grabbed the rope as he climbed up with Nami right behind him.  
  
When they got back on the deck, they all went to their respective rooms. Nami and Luffy, however, were waiting until everyone went to bed. After a few minutes, Luffy and Nami left their rooms and went to eachother in the hallway between their rooms.   
  
"Well....Nami.....what happened earlier......I'm sorry. It was an accident." Luffy said with a blush on his face, his hand rubbing the back of his head.  
  
She shooked her head and blushed even brighter. "It's okay, Luffy. I understand."  
  
Before she left, Luffy stopped her by grabbing her hand. Immediately, Nami turned around abd her heart was beating really fast by the touch of Luffy's hand upon hers.  
  
"Nami........even though it was an accident.....I .....I liked it...." Luffy sputtered out as he pulled Nami closer to him.  
  
Even though it was nearly pitch black, Luffy could still see a tiny pink streak across her cheeks. "You...you did?!"  
  
"Uh huh......"  
  
"Oh Luffy......I liked it too!" Nami said as she pounced on him with a tight hug. Immediately, Luffy hugged her back as he whispered, "I'm glad you did....."  
  
The two remained like that for a few minutes, then they seperated from eachother. Before she went to bed, Luffy got up his courage and kissed Nami on the cheek. When she looked at him, he winked and said, "Night, Nami."  
  
"N.......Night, Luffy!" She said back, waving goodbye and heading to her room as he headed back to his own room.  
  
~  
  
From the east, there was a huge warship that was heading towards the island with the fake Gum-Gum fruit. There was hardly any crew as the ship was one of the few to actually be machine-operated. The sails that were on the ship, each one depicted a symbol of a broad sword with a cross on the front of the sword, a red bold circle was also right behind the sword and cross.  
  
From the ship, a middle-aged man that was surprisingly well-fit and well-built for his age and a younger man in his late twenties walked towards the bow of the ship, staring at both the ocean and the island.  
  
"Should we see if our experiment has worked now, or would you rather stare at the ocean some more, son?" The middle-aged man spoke.  
  
"No.....I actually feel like testing my new powers, thanks to you mixing the Gum-Gum Fruit and the Chop-Chop Fruit together, along with adding something to the equation. Now no one can beat me....except you, Father." The younger man said.  
  
"It's no problem. With our new fruit, the Boom-Boom fruit, we should have no problem with any more travelers, pirates, or Navy marines unless they too have eaten any of the Devil Fruit." The father said back as he took a peek at the sail.  
  
"Look at it, son." He said, pointing upward toward the sail. "That is the Le-Onne Family Seal. It stands up for supreme power at any cost, and we shall have it as it is destined to be in the future."  
  
"Yeah....." The younger man said as he stared at the ocean. His eyes perked up when he saw someone lying on the beach. "Father! Look!"  
  
He ran back to the edge of the bow and gasped. "ROUSSE!!"  
  
"So....there's that bastard who ran away from us and nearly destroyed our family destiny.....what should we do, Father?" The younger man said.  
  
"Bring him aboard. We'll need him alive and ask him why he deserted us." The middle-aged man said.  
  
With a nod, the younger man got a knife, placed it tightly into it's sheath, and dove into the ocean, swimming towards the beach.  
  
~  
  
"You're actually going to tell on your father?! But....you always told me you were too afraid of what your father may do to you if you told!" Jennifer yelled at Rousse, the two of them sitting in an empty tavern.  
  
Rousse took his cup of tea that Jennifer served him and said, "Yes. Unfortunately, he is not my real father as you already know, and my father pays no attention to me. He doesn't even believe I'm alive! Also, I've overheard him say something about experiments used in the same sentence along with my name. I'm afraid of what he'll do. I know he doesn't love me, and I don't want to be around him anymore. The only person who loved me as a member of the family was my mom, and she's dead."  
  
She sighed at Rousse and pulled a chair so that they would sit together. "Well......if things go well, your father would be put in jail like he'd deserves to be......but what if they catch you?"  
  
"Well....if they catch me, then I'll have to run away forever. I don't want anyone else to be involved in me, and my father doesn't need to know your involvement with me, Jennifer. I don't want him hurting you because........I care for you."  
  
She blushed at his words, not knowing what to say. Finally, she said very slowly while staring into his eyes, "Really.....?"  
  
"Yeah, Jennifer. Really." He simply said back, feeling more confident then ever.  
  
"Oh....Rousse...." She then lifted her head up and closed her eyes, waiting for what she thought would be a kiss, and she got what she wanted. Rousse gently laid her fingers across her cheeks, pressed his palm against it rather gently, leaned forward, and kissed her lips very softly. Jennifer smiled and kissed him back very gently, not wanting the moment to end.  
  
In a matter of minutes, after the kiss, Rousse got his things and asked Jennifer to take it with him. It was basic supplies to keep him alive. He carried a box with him and a Samurai Sword by his side. When he walked away, he waved goodbye and told her that he'll be back hopefully. As he left, she thought to herself, "I'll wait for you, Rousse, because I love you too......"  
  
Immediately, Rousse woke up and leapt from the beach floor. He breathed heavily as he struggled to think what happened after that point in his dream since it was hard to remember. All he remembers is the few short visions of him escaping his hometown and seeing Luffy knock out that sea monster in one punch.  
  
Rousse's breathing slowly came to it's normal pace as he wiped the sweat off his face. Before he can even take 5 seconds of relaxing, he felt someone cover his mouth with a hankerchief. As he struggled to get free, he accidently took a breath, breathing in some sort of fumes from the hankerchief. Before he could even sense it was chloroform, Rousse went into unconsciousness.   
  
When Rousse fell to the ground, the man from behind stepped out of the shadows and smirked, throwing the hankerchief away before he gets a whiff of it. "It's so nice to see you again, Rousse. It's been too long."  
  
He chuckles and carries Rousse out into sea, making sure his head remains above the ocean. As he carries him away, he doesn't notice a mysterious figure with a straw hat staring outside, watching the entire event from the ship nearby.  
  
Rousse slowly wakes up from his forced nap. He finds himself bound to a chair with rope as he struggles to free himself. With no luck, he remains seated and very irritated at whoever did this.   
  
Soon, the door that was in front of Rousse was swung open. Rousse gasped as he looked at the people who walked in.  
  
"Tch....not them....." Rousse said quietly to himself.  
  
~  
  
Since Luffy saw what happened to Rousse, he brought everyone out onto the deck to discuss what to do. Usopp wanted to stay behind while Zoro felt really felt nothing too much for Rousse since he never really had a chance to talk to the guy. However, Luffy and Nami wanted to save him and make sure no one got hurt. Since their two votes broke even with Zoro and Usopp's rejection, and since Luffy was captain, they all eventually decided to help Rousse out.  
  
When the plan was set, Nami looked at Luffy and asked, "Uh...Luffy? How are we going to get onto the ship? We're too far from them to swim over there, and we can't use the ship yet until we test the hull, and that'll take a while!"  
  
"Uh..............oh....." Luffy responds very nervously as he tries to think of a plan.  
  
~  
  
"Father.........Takanachi......" Rousse said very slowly, facing the two people that had just entered.  
  
The person on the left was 50 years old or so in age. He stood tall with a cane in one hand. He was dressed in a grey suit wiht a white dress shirt and a black tie. He had slicked back black hair with slight grey highlights on the edges of his hair. The person on the right was a young man that was a few years older than Rousse. He had long curly silver hair as he wore a brown leather jacket with a fur collar with a black T-Shirt and Dark Blue Baggy Jeans. Both of them looked at Rousse with very evil eyes.  
  
Rousse's father turned to Takanachi and said, "Well.....I assume you two want to catch up a little? After all, despite the fact that you've only been seperated from eachother only a day, it's still heartbreaking to see our son runaway. Yet when we meet him again, we'll be so happy."  
  
Takanachi growled at him for a second, then nodded his head sand said, "Yeah....I want to tell him some things."  
  
As Rousse's father walked out of the room, Takanachi walked forward and cracked his knuckles. He then said to Rousse, "Well...shall we get started in catching up?"  
  
Rousse growled at him and nodded his head, obviously feeling very helpless at what to do......  
  
____________________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Author's Notes: The Boom-Boom Fruit is something I created, but if it appears in One Piece, or if there are any other fruits I do not know about, tell me, so I can fix things here, 'kay? ^_~  
  
Ch.3 Finished! Now it's onto Ch.4  
  
Preview of Ch.4 - Luffy and Nami contemplate what to do as they share another quick private moment togehter; Rousse's history is even more revealed by his brother before the torture; Also, Luffy and Co. get on the ship and attempt to save Rousse only to face the power of the Boom-Boom fruit!  
  
See ya next time! ^_^ 


	4. Second Thoughts and a Kidnapping

One Piece - Island of the Gum Gums - Chapter 4   
  
Written by Steven Kunz the Fan Author  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own nor invent One Piece. This excellent manga was written and drawn by Eiichiro Oda.  
  
_________________________________________________________________________________  
  
While Takanachi paced around Rousse very slowly and making sure each step he took on the rotted deck made that creaking noise to annoy him, Rousse simply stared forward, not really paying attention to Takanachi.  
  
Since he wasn't paying attention to Takanachi, he was obviously not thinking about the situation that was going on. Instead, his thoughts passed onto his mother, his best friend and not-so-obvious crush Jennifer, Luffy and his crew. His thoughts turned to the moment before he went to the Navy about his family's crime history.  
  
Before he can focus even longer on those thoughts, he felt his brother's palm go across his cheek as he slapped him as hard as he can. Rousse simply kept his head to the side when Takanachi had pulled his arm back.  
  
"You know, Rousse...." Takanachi began to speak as he began to pace around the room. "Do you remember our mother?"  
  
At the moment when he mentioned his mother, he perked his heard at Takanachi and said, "Mother? Oh, yes! I remember. What about her?"  
  
"Well....it's time that your father and I told you the truth about what happened to her. It's the least I can do."   
  
Rousse lifted his head at Takanachi as he took a deep breath and explained what happened. "This came as a shock to me too, but what happened to our mother, when she died, was not of natural cause."  
  
The perspiration on his face increased as his heart beated faster, increasing his breathing faster than he thought.  
  
"Wh......what hap...penned?" Rousse nervously asked, knowing what Takanachi was going to say, but he never expected who was the cause.  
  
"Our mother was murdered....by our father." Takanachi said as he took a deep breath. When he was done, he turned around and faced away from Rousse.  
  
Rousse was absolutely stunned when he found out who killed his mother. "M........our mom was killed...by dad...?!"  
  
~  
  
Nami looked at the ship that Rousse had been taken aboard. It was still floating in an idle state since no one had taken control of the ship.  
  
Meanwhile, Zora had continued to examine his swords and make sure he knew what he was getting into while Usopp kept contemplating whether to go on the ship or not, holding his slingshot tightly while pacing back and forth. Luffy was also busy trying to determine how to get onto the ship with his make-shift plan.  
  
"Luffy!" Nami called out after walking to the other side of the deck where there was absolutely no one there.  
  
"Coming!" Luffy yelled back as he walked to the other side of the deck.  
  
When he got there, there was no one there at all. All that was in front of him was the ocean and behind was the back of the room that was used to bring them downstairs into the lower levels of the ship.  
  
"Luffy....." A familiar whisper was heard as a hand creeped out from the shadows of the cabin and beckoned him to come closer.  
  
When he walked over there, he felt the hand stroke his chin for a moment, then without warning, the person's arms wrapped around him and pulled him close while the person kissed his lips very enthusiastically with some passion and gentleness into the kiss.  
  
Luffy immediately got very nervous as he blushed bright red and waited to see who was the person when he or she pulled out of the kiss. When they did, Luffy chuckled and blushed as he moved aside some of the person's short and shining orange hair across from her face and grabbed her cheek.  
  
"Nami...." Luffy whispered before he leaned forward and kissed her lips. Nami blushed brighter than him as she smiled and kissed back, feeling very happy.  
  
The kiss only lasted a few seconds. Before she lost herself in the thrill of the moment, she pushed Luffy away and walked towards the end of the deck, wiping her lip and spitting into the water.  
  
Luffy picked up his hat that he dropped and walked towards Nami, placing a hand on her shoulder. She brushed it aside and whispered Luffy's name in her mind before she finally got the courage to what she wanted to say.  
  
"Luffy.......I.....I do like you. I like you a lot. I like you so much that I want nothing more than to be by your side and kiss you just like I did earlier.....but I can't." Nami said very quietly, making sure no one but Luffy would hear.  
  
"Huh?" Luffy said right back in confusion. He did not know Nami liked him this much. He honestly thought that she would break away from him because of the fact that he's a pirate, but he never expected him to do it in a romantic moment like this. He gathered his courage and asked, "If I may ask, why not?"  
  
"It's because.....you're a pirate, Luffy. Even though you're not the pirates I had imagined, you're still part of that evil group, that same evil group that had taken away someone precious to me, and until I can get 100 Million Berries, I can never be with anyone that will destroy, pillage, and ruin other people's lives and laugh about it...." After she had said all that, Nami bent her head and buried her face in the palm of her hands, crying very softly.  
  
Luffy was stunned by her reasoning. At that moment, Luffy thought that if he quit being a pirate forever, he could be with Nami in the way that she wanted him. However, at the same time, the memories of his mentor, the same memories that were given to him through the straw-hat told him to keep going.  
  
In the end, Luffy walked in front of Nami and placed his hands on her shoulders. She lifted her head as he moved a finger across her cheek, wiping and drying off any of the dried tears. "I do understand why, Nami, and I want you to know that if I had a choice, I would give up being a pirate for you...."  
  
A small smile creeped onto her face as Luffy went on. "Unfortunately, I have a promise to fulfill to Shanks, and a promise is a promise, so I msut continue being a pirate and become the King of Pirates..."  
  
Nami soon began to cry again, but this time, she was smiling as she laid her head onto Luffy's shoulder and cried on it, thinking to herself, "I know I hate pirates....but could I make just one very special exception to one very special person?"  
  
While Nami cried, Luffy simply held her close and thought about wwhat to do now. Immediately, he got an idea.   
  
Pulling away from the hug, Luffy grinned at Nami and said, "Hey! I got an idea on how we can get to the ship!"  
  
Before Nami could answer, Luffy ran forward with her hand held softly, almost dragging her to where everyone is.  
  
Within a few minutes, the plan was ready to be excecuted.  
  
Luffy would have his arms stretched out in opposite directions of eachother. Nami, Zora, and Usopp held on tightly to his arm as he walked back. The plan was for Luffy to grab onto two wooden poles, step back as far as he can, and when he was ready, he would release the grip and go flying into the air. Nami, Usopp, and Zora held onto him tighter as there was a good possibilty they could die from this attempt into being a stowaway on the idle ship. Also, Zoro was to carry the things Rousse had left behind on the beach floor, his sword and his two flintock pistols carried in his box, and give them to him when they arrived the ship.  
  
Zora immediately yelled out as soon as Luffy got onto the beach while still keeping his arms stretched out, "Luffy! What if this doesn't work?!"  
  
Grinning widely again, he said, "If it doesn't, we'll just have to try again and hope we land on the ship!"  
  
When everyone heard that, they all yelled, "WHAT?!!""  
  
Before they could let go, Luffy yelled, "Let's go!!" Immediately, he let go, and was sent flying into the air and amazingly toward the ship with everyone screaming as they held onto Luffy for dear life.  
  
~  
  
Takanachi nodded his head and said, "Well, it wasn't exactly him, but it was carried out by one of the scientists that always used to hang out at his labs. All he did simply was poison our mother's food, the day before she became seriously ill. While she was in the hospital, that same man had also switched the medicine to another type, and as we all know, that was when things...ended..."  
  
Rousse stared at him wide-eyed. Immediately Rousse understood why Takanachi had to be totally under his father's wing and eye. If Takanachi had done anything to prevent his mother's death or if he tried to rebel like Rousse did, he would have been dead before the day was done.  
  
"But........but why?!" Rousse yelled out, wanting not to believe Takanachi's words.  
  
"Our mother was like you. She was sick and tired of being in that family simply because we were too deeply in affairs with other crime familes, corrupt naval officials, and pirates."   
  
When Rousse heard that, he had no choice to believe Takanachi since it now explained everything that he had wanted to hear. However, at that moment as well, he wished he had never been born.  
  
"Now.....under my father's orders..." Takanachi began to chuckle a little, trying his best not to cry as he attempted to regain his evil disposition he had shown earlier. "I am supposed to test our latest fusion of the devil fruit, the Boom-Boom fruit."  
  
"Boom-Boom Fruit?!" Rousse yelled out, lifting his head at the mention of this unknown devil fruit.  
  
"Yeah....." Takanachi said while moving towards the back of the room. Rousee could hear him take something out of a box as he closed it and slid it back into a secret compartment. Walking right in front of Rousse, he showed to him a small piece of fruit with tiny imprints of clouds with swirls in the middle. "This combines the powers of the Gum-Gum Fruit and the Chop-Chop Fruit, and also, we've added a special ingredient of our own. Just simple gun-powder, but the fusion worked well."  
  
Rousse growled loudly as he heard what was next. "The powers of this is incredible! One bite, and you'll most likely be able to stretch as if you've eaten the Gum-Gum Fruit, and if any parts of your body are cut off, it'll be able to move on it's own with one special side-effect. If it can latch onto any person or any object, it can explode itself, usually killing whoever is caught! Best of all, the part that is latched onto the person isn't destroyed most of the time, so it returns to the owner's hand, and if it were destroyed, the body would reproduce that destroyed limb within a matter of a few minutes."  
  
"Usually? You mean the fruit doesn't work all the time?" Rousse literally growled out, "What happened to those who got the other end of that stick?"  
  
"Well....let's just say they've experienced true happiness for one short moment, and now, they're quite content in where they are now....very content." Takanachi said very quietly after hesitating for a few seconds, trying to make himself sound evil, despite his unwillingness to hurt Rousse.  
  
~  
  
Still flying over the ocean, Luffy and the rest of his crew continued to fly over due to him using his Gum-Gum stretching ability to propel himself and his crew towards the ship.  
  
However, Luffy had miscalculated. Instead of flying them towards the deck of the ship, he instead overshot and was heading towards one of the cabins that were on the deck. The rest of the crew, afraid that they would hit the ocean floor instead, let go of Luffy's arms and dropped down to the deck. Nami, however, was the only one who made it to the deck. Zoro managed to catch the edge of the deck while Usopp hung onto his legs.  
  
"AGHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Luffy yelled out as he flailed his arms, bringing them back to their original length, as he attempted to cover his face when he would land or crash through the roof of the cabin.  
  
~  
  
Waving the fruit in front of Rousse, he chuckled and said, "Now now, don't be afraid. I've already taken the fruit, and I'm fine. However, I was one of the lucky ones. Will you be the lucky one?"  
  
Rousse squirmed as he tried not to come in contact with the fruit at all. Soon, Takanachi literally stuffed the fruit into his mouth. Rousse wouldn't chew, but Takanachi simply placed both of his hands onto the top of Rousse's head and underneath his jaw, and squeezed them together. The fruit was broken apart in his mouth, but he still wouldn't swallow.  
  
Takanachi's next step was to rub Rousse's neck so that he would be forced to swallow in order to get the itch or sensation out of his throat. However, he never did get a chance to do that, for when he heard Luffy scream from the outside of his cabin, he turned around and was prepared to leave. Unfortunately for him, Luffy had crashed through the roof the cabin and landed right on top of Takanachi, making him close to the point of unconsciousness.  
  
Picking up his hat which he had put on very tightly while he was flying to the ship, he lifted his head and grinned at Rousse. "Hey Rousse! Sorry we took so long, but we were kinda busy on how to get you out of that ship."  
  
Rousse spat the fruit onto the floor and yelled out at Luffy in an extreme tone of anger, "You IDIOT!! Why didn't you get me out when I was by your ship! I knew you weren't asleep!!"  
  
"Well, I wasn't sure that was you, and I wasn't sure that was a friend, but at least we know now!" He yelled out, his face still showing that same wide grin.  
  
Rousse sighed and chuckled. "Well, whatever. Can you get me out of here still?"  
  
"Sure!" Luffy walked to Rousse, untied the ropes, and the two walked out together.  
  
When they walked out to the deck, Nami had helped Zoro up onto the deck, but not before he kicked Usopp off, causing him to grab onto the edge of the deck as well. Luffy ran over to him and helped him up as well.  
  
While everyone was helping eachother, Rousse saw a small dinghy floating in the ocean on one side of the ship and ran over to it as far as he could. When he got to that side of the deck, he gasped and yelled out, "FATHER!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
He saw his father rowing the dinghy all by himself. He looked at Rousse and yelled out, "Rousse?! What are you doing here? I thought Takanachi already dealt with you!!"  
  
"What?! No! My friends helped me out!" Rousse yelled back at him.  
  
"Well, it doesn't matter. Takanachi is loyal to me, and he will dispose of you all while I make a quick getaway! I shall go back home and plan my next strategy!!"  
  
As Rousse's father rowed out of there, Rousse continued to yell at him and called to him, but he was too far away for him to hear.  
  
He just simply stood there and waited for him to yell out, but he never did. Soon, Luffy came by with a huge package behind his back. He patted Rousse on the back and said, "It's okay, Rousse. You'll see him again, and when you do, you'll tell him what you really want to say to him."  
  
Remaining silent, Rousse just stared at the ocean. Luffy smiled and opened the package in front of him. When Rousse saw what was inside, he beamed as he said quite loudly, "My Sword and Guns! I thought you forgot about them!"  
  
He picked up his sword and placed the two Flintock Pistols in his pockets, as it was the only place where he could put them. He smiled and said, "Thanks, Luffy!"  
  
"It's no problem, Rousse. I'm just glad you're glad." Luffy replied, then patted Rousse on the shoulder.  
  
"AGH!!!!!!!" Luffy and Rousse turned around to see something quite horrible, especially to Luffy.  
  
It was Nami yelling. From what Luffy had gathered, Takanachi had snuck up behind her and placed a hidden knife by her throat. He used her as a shield as he slowly crawled to a boat. Usopp couldn't do a thing. However, Zoro had stepped aside after he saw Takanachi get up from inside the cabin and dashed at Takanachi, slashing right by him with his 3 swords.  
  
When Zoro appeared to the right of Takanachi, he removed the sword in his mouth with one hand after he had put the other sword in it's sheath. He turned around and waited for something to happen. Takanachi didn't really speak since he fell back from the pain caused from his hand holding the knife being cut off at the wrist.  
  
Nami fell to her knees and gasped for breath. While Zoro helped her up, Takanachi's severed hand began to twitch a little. Soon, it floated in the air and without the others noticing, it floated up and lunged forward at Nami.  
  
Almost no one noticed except Rousse and Luffy. Luffy screamed for Nami to duck as he used his stretching powers to get to Nami as fast as he can. When she turned around, she saw the hand coming towards her, and without enough time to assemble and deflect it with her staff, she screamed and covered her face from the hand.   
  
The hand did latch onto something, but it wasn't Nami. Instead, it was Usopp who had dove in and stopped the hand from getting to her. As the hand latched onto his neck, Usopp screamed as he tried to pry the fingers off his neck. However, he did hear a sound as though something was being burned off or it was sizzling. He looked down at the hand and saw it glowing a faint yellow. When he heard it, in a matter of seconds, the hand literally blew up and sent Usopp flying into the air, screaming as he became a star in the sky.  
  
Everyone blinked as it wasn't what they were expecting. However, they all gasped when they saw the hand where Usopp used to be still intact, but very burnt. Takanachi smirked and with his mind, he called his hand back, and the severed limb went to the cut-off wrist, and after a few seconds, his hand was back to normal and he was able to use it again.  
  
Everyone gasped as they gathered together to fight Takanachi. Zoro took his 3 swords and got in a battle stance while Luffy and Nami stood together. Nami held her staff tightly as she raised it at Takanachi while Luffy raised his fists and leered at him with a very angry look on his face.  
  
"What's with this guy?!" Zoro yelled at Luffy and Nami. He turned to Takanachi and yelled out at Takanachi. "Huh?! How come you're able to do that?!"  
  
"It is the Boom Boom Fruit."  
  
Everyone turned their heads to one side of the deck to see Rousse walking down slowly towards Luffy and the others, his sword unsheathed and his two pistols in his pockets at the moment.  
  
"My father and Takanachi here somehow managed to fuse the Gum-Gum Fruit and the Chop-Chop together so that both of the powers may be used at once while minimizing the weaknesses of these two fruits. However, they had decided to fuse it with basic gun-powder and some unknown catalyst, making it so that if you chop off a hand or leg, it could explode itself at will while still being able to fly around and grab onto an opponent, and as you saw for yourself, the hand remains intact." Rousse said as he walked in front of Luffy's ground and readied his sword with one hand while his other hand was at his flintock pistol.  
  
He looked at Luffy over his shoulder and smirked. "Luffy. Zoro. Nami. Let me fight him. He's my brother, and I deserve a chance to hit him on the head at least once before he can kill me."  
  
Zoro and Nami were stunned after finding out he was his brother, but in the end, they nodded their heads and stepped back to give Rousse and Takanachi enough room to fight.  
  
~  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
A star in the sky shined brightly once again as Usopp started his descent back onto the ocean floor. Within a few minutes while the standoff was beginning to develop, he landed onto the ocean floor hard, causing a huge splash. Only Zoro, Nami, and Luffy notice.  
  
When they rushed to the edge of the deck, they all blinked and sighed. It was Usopp clearly knocked out while floating in the water, wailing very quietly for the group to get him out......  
  
"Well...at least he didn't act so cowardly this time." Zoro thought to himself and smirked as he was the first to dive into the ocean and help Usopp back onto the ship.  
  
_________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Ch.4 Done! Ch.5 Coming Soon Hopefully!  
  
Preview of Ch.5 - The Big Fight between Takanachi and Rousse begins! Meanwhile, Zoro attempts to get Usopp awake while Nami tries to like Luffy again despite the fact that he's a pirate! Will any of the StrawHat Pirates get a chance to fight Takanachi?! Find out next Chapter!  
  
Author's Notes: I'd like to thank everyone for bearing with me for the long-awaited update of Island of the Gum-Gums. It was a rough few weeks as Exams and getting ready for Summer School took up most of my time. Thanks to you all, and I will do my best to get Ch.5 done as soon as possible! 


	5. The Big Fight and Romance on the Sidelin...

One Piece - Island of the Gum Gums - Chapter 5  
  
Written by Steven Kunz the Fan Author  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own nor invent One Piece. This excellent manga was written and drawn by Eiichiro Oda.  
  
_________________________________________________________________________________  
  
While Luffy, Nami, and Zoro ran off to pick up Usopp out of the ocean, Rousse and Takanachi stood in their same spots and still facing towards eachother, grimly looking at eachother.  
  
Takanachi's expression changed into a smirk as he said, "Why didn't you let the boy with the straw hat or that infamous bounty hunter Zoro fight me? They, at least, have some skill and are able to defend themselves against me. A normal human wouldn't be able to stand up and face up after one punch!"  
  
Rousse's face also turned into a smirk as he replied back, "Well, I just think it'd be easier if I had weakened you a little and let those guys still the show. At least you'll get yours once Luffy lays his hands on you."  
  
"We'll see about that." Rousse's brother said before his face went back into a serious expression. He tossed the knife he used against Nami and pulled out two long daggers, the blades being about 1 1/2 feet long.  
  
Rousse's face also went serious when he stepped forward and lifted his sword at Takanachi. However, neither of them waited to see who would make a move....  
  
~  
  
"Luffy.....I'm scared." Nami muttered slowly when Luffy and Zoro got back onto the deck and literally hauled Usopp onto the ship. He was knocked by the impact of landing onto the water from such an incredible height, but at least he was okay.  
  
While Zoro attended to waking up Usopp, Luffy walked up to Nami who crawled away slowly from Luffy at first, but soon sat there on the ground as everyone was staring at Rousse and Takanachi beginning to face off against eachother.  
  
"Why are you scared?" Luffy said in a serious voice. He then grinned and chuckled, "After all, I ain't gonna let that guy die! He's a cool guy! Besides, he's my friend, as well as all of you guys."  
  
She blinked and wiped the tears away from her eyes as she leapt at Luffy and wrapped her arms around him. Luffy blushed and blinked as he was hugged and hugged back. He moved his hand through Nami's hair as he kissed her forehead. Nami didn't say anything, but a small smile crept up as she laid her head on Luffy's shoulder and rested for now.   
  
Soon, Usopp woke up as Zoro, Usopp, Nami, and Luffy all turned their heads to the battle that would eventually happen.  
  
~  
  
After staring at eachother for a few minutes, Rousse muttered, "And this little game begins."  
  
Rousse dashed forward with both hands on his sword as he lunged at Takanachi and slashed downward at his head. Takanachi dodged to the right and let his right arm be cut off, not feeling any pain or any blood let out. Rousse immediately remembered the effect of the Boom-Boom Fruit and leapt away. However, instead of blowing up like he thought it would, it floated in the air and headed towards him at a fast speed. Rousse gasped in fear for a second as he quickly bent backwards and thrusted his sword at the hand, stabbing right through the palm. When Rousse opened his eyes, he saw the hand starting to glow bright orange. He grabbed the sword with both hands and swung it at Takanachi, releasing the arm as it flew towards him and exploded as soon as it made contact.  
  
Everyone on the deck looked at Rousse as he took a deep breath and just stared at him.  
  
Zoro and Usopp stood there with a look of awe on their face while Luffy and Nami held eachother tightly, not sure at what to do. Nami sat there on the floor with an expression of fear in her eyes. Luffy, however, yelled out at Rousse. "AWESOME! That was cool!"  
  
Rousse turned around, confident that he had finished off Takanachi and smiled at Luffy. However, he gasped in pain as he felt two long daggers stab him from behind and twist around in his stomach. When they were pulled out, he fell to his knees, but is lifted off the ground and feels his life waning away.   
  
"...Gum Pistol!"  
  
Takanachi looks towards Luffy and sees his fist flailing at him. Without any time to react, he takes the punch head-on and is sent flying towards the end of the deck. Luffy's fist is pulled back to show him standing here with an insanely mad expression on his face.  
  
"HEY! COPYCAT!" He yelled out. "Why don't you fight fair and like a man?!"  
  
Zoro dragged Usopp towards the battlefield as he got one of his swords and got into battle position as they surrounded Takanachi. As he got up, he looked at the Straw-Hat Pirates and smirked as he got up and looked at Luffy. "What a punch! I didn't expect a kid like you to hit that hard. However...."  
  
Everyone blinked as he finished his sentence. ".....you will not win this battle! I can take more than you think!"  
  
Nami looked toward Luffy as he got into battle position and faced against Takanachi. She held onto Rousse and attempted to tend to his wounds.  
  
She placed a hand on the stab wounds and heard Rousse groan in pain. However, there was no more blood coming out of the stab wounds. She blinked as she wondered why he wasn't bleeding anymore. When she turned to look at his face and saw that his eyes were closed and his mouth was not moving.  
  
She leaned forward and waited to see if there was any sign of him breathing, and there wasn't. Nami immediately gasped in horror as she thought to herself, "Oh no! He's dying!!"  
  
She immediately placed his hands on his face as she leaned forward, hesitated a moment, and attempted to resuscitate him, hoping he'll come back to life.  
  
~  
  
When Nami was breathing into him, Rousse's mind drifted away from his body towards an empty void as his mind began to flash back into his past. It didn't look into his entire past, but instead, he remembered the 1st moment where he met Jennifer.  
  
In his hometown, when Rousse was 5 years old, he was put in the advanced kindergarden class meant for gifted and bright students. However, Rousse was only allowed in this school due to his family's influence. When he was placed into the bright and colorful classroom, dressed in a tiny black sport coat, a white dress shirt, a black tie, and black pants, he turned around and ran around like a baby. However, the kids there ignored him because they all felt he was not acting like someone of his status.  
  
Near the end of the day, he sat in a corner, only moving when the teacher called him. When the teacher did call him over this time, he was sat down in a small table with a young girl about his age dressed in a simple sweatshirt and jeans.   
  
"Er.....hello?" She said to Rousse, who just sat there brooding. When he lifted his head to look at her, he gasped in surprise as he looked into her eyes, thinking, "She's..............pretty....."  
  
She blinked as Rousse shook his head and said to her, "Heylo." with a smile. When she smiled back, Rousse raised his hand and said, "My name is Rousse Le-Onne. What's yours?"  
  
She took his hand in hers and shook it, replying, "My name is Jennifer Lariant."  
  
Rouuse smiled and so did she as they shook hands for nearly more than a minute.  
  
Another image soon entered his mind.   
  
When Rousse was 10, he sat down at the breakfast table and ate a regular breakfast of eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns.  
  
He was just almost done when someone set down a small glass of a white and brownish liquid. Rousse looked up and saw it was his father with a gentle smile on his face. Rousse blinked since he knew his father would hardly smile at him as he asked, "Dad, what's this?"  
  
His father said, "It's a special drink I made myself just for you. It will make your body heal itself much faster than a normal human would, it will make you stronger, and it will keep you young for a long time."  
  
Rousse's eyes widened at the idea of living longer and becoming stronger. He immediately took the drink and drank it all in one gulp. When he set the glass down and swallowed the drink, he nearly choked at the awful taste. He yelled out to his father, "Dad! That tasted awful!"  
  
He chuckled and said, "Well, if the medicine tastes bad, it obviously must be good for you, right?"  
  
Rousse didn't understood exactly what he said and nodded reluctantly. As his father walked away, he thought to himself, "This should see if the testing works, and if he dies.....at least it will rid me of that nuisance of a son..."  
  
In a few weeks after that incident, Rousse did feel himself to be stronger and whenever he felt sick at times, it was only for an instant as the medicine did heal his body. Whenever his father saw Rousse walking around more energetic than usual, he always had a frown because he had secretly anticipated the death of Rousse.   
  
Later that day, he went into his father's room and looked around to find his father in the dark. When he found nothing, he turned around and headed out, but not before bumping into a small table and knocking down a single piece of paper. Rousse picked it up and read what was on there.  
  
"Rousse has taken the liquid suppliment of the Heal-Heal Fruit and so far, the predicted results are starting to appear with none of the bad symptons. Increased Body Regeneration, Increased Virus Protection, Increased Energy Output, and the Aging Process for Rousse seems to have slowed down nearly indefinately. At this point, Rousse is predicted to look as he is 17 or 18 years of age before the aging process slows down. After that, his true age may be impossible to determine. This was an unintended side-effect, but at least the possibilities of Rousse dying because of the suppliment is no longer a factor in this. As the years go by, I hope that it will be possible to convert it from the liquid suppliment to the fruit itself."  
  
Rousse, thinking nothing of this sicne he was only ten years old, simply put the piece of paper back to where it originally was and left.  
  
Soon, Rousse felt his body coming back to life, but before he did, he saw another set of images. He remember seeing Luffy attacking the huge sea creature at the start of his journey, his fight with Luffy, his small talk with Nami, and standing by Luffy with his package of weapons and items a few moments ago on that same ship.  
  
~  
  
Nami lifted her head when she felt Rousse's own breath and looked at him with a concerned gaze in her eyes.  
  
Soon, Rousse opened his eyes and looked at Nami. She smiled as she sat upwards and helped him sit up. With an arm around his shoulder, she looked at him and said, "Are you okay?"  
  
Rousse, still breathing heavily, looked at Nami and smiled. "Yeah...."  
  
"AHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Usopp seemed to scream out as he was thrown across the deck and landed right next to Nami and Rousse. Both of them looked ahead and saw the fight happening.  
  
~  
  
Luffy and Zoro turned their heads quickly towards the wounded and unable to fight, Nami, Usopp, and Rousse, and growled back at Takanachi. "HEY! Why did you attack when he wasn't ready?!"  
  
Takanachi raised his hand and quickly thought of the consequences that would happen. He did use his stretching powers to slap Usopp all the way over to where the injured were while he was loading his slingshot with a very obvious nervousness that could be felt. He turned to the group, held both daggers tightly, and said very quietly so that Luffy and Zoro can hear, "I don't care anymore. I honestly do not care about you, your friends' welfare, nor my own. My father had changed me too much. "  
  
The two blinked as eh continued on with his story, "When I was young, I was a happy kid, and my father seemed fairly normal because he did hug me when I was younger and tell me he loved me. However, when he managed to get funding to those science projects of creating all kinds of medicines for all kinds of people, he changed. He became obsessed with them and stopped coming home. When he did come home finally after half a year passed, he was a changed man who also had brought him a young boy he had 'adopted.' That young boy was Rousse. Before I even had a chance to talk to him, he said that if I weren't mean and rude to him, he would have killed me and my mom. I had no choice, so I tortured him like that."  
  
Luffy and Zoro blinked. They were skeptical about what Takanachi was saying, but they also felt he was telling the truth due to the sincerity in his voice. He continued on.  
  
"He became so obsessed with his work that whenever he wasn't yelling at us or our mom, he was in his lab, studying on those medicines and new formulas he had happened to come across while making them. He was so obsessed that, as you already know, tested some of his products on us. I don't know what sort of formula he gave Rousse, but he gave me that dreaded Boom-Boom fruit.....  
  
When Takanachi finished his story, he began to cross his arms, and he used his stretching powers to swing both of his arms in a spiral. With his daggers pointed at Zoro and Luffy, when his arms were at an equal distance, they went their seperate directions as he was ready to slash ZOro and Luffy.  
  
While Luffy leapt upward and letting the dagger follow him, Zoro got one sword out, pointed it towards the side, and let the dagger connect with the flat of the blade. When ZOro felt no more friction against the blade, he drew his other sword with his free hand and slashes downward at his wrist, cutting it offf at the ground. Quickly, he thrusts his blade at the middle of his hand and dives for cover. Quickly, the hand explodes as Zoro quickly gets up on his feet, takes his sword that impaled Takanachi's hand, and dashes forward. Letting his arms go back, he prepares his favorite technique as he lands on the groundand lunges right at Takanachi. Swinging forward and dashing through Takanachi, he yells out, "ONI GIRI!!!!"  
  
While all of this was going on, Luffy saw the hand coming up towards him. He looked down and smirked at the dagger pointing at him. He shifted his body so that he would be falling down straight towards the ship, reached forward, and placed his fingertips on the sides of the blades, and broke off part of the blade using his strength. Letting the blade drop to the ground, Luffy grabbed onto Takanachi's hand, rotated his other free arm, and thrusted it forward at his face, executing his Gum Gum Pistol technique right at his face. However, before he could even do that, he saw Zoro use his 'Oni Giri' technique on Takanachi, and pulled his arm back.  
  
When Zoro dashed right through him, his arms had fallen off and there were many scratches on his face and body. The arm that attacked Zoro simply fell to the floor just laid there while the arm that attacked Luffy had suddenly wrapped around him and sent him flying to the ground. When he had landed on the ground, there was a loud explosion which completely engulfed Luffy.  
  
Usopp, Rousse, and Nami covered their faces from the debris caused by the explosion and cringed at the possible sight of Luffy being hurt. Nami lifted her head upwards and yelled out, "Luffy!!!!!!!!!" as she had to look away from the debris again.  
  
Zoro turned around and saw Luffy in the middle of that explosion. Without enough time to make a quick moment of concern, he felt something grab onto his shirt tightly. He looked down and saw the hand which he had severed and growled as he attempted to get it off. However, he couldn't do it quickly enough, as the explosion soon covered his body and sent him flying away towards the injured area.   
  
Both the explosion's debris had cleared up as Takanachi stood tall and proud. However, he had a small expression of pain as the 'Oni Giri' technique as it had damaged him internally. He coughed up a little bit of blood as he said, "Ha! Your light-hearted sword play can't even damage my rubber hide!"  
  
Zoro slowly got up and looked up. The edges of his clothes had been charred as his skin was covered in soot and dust. He said very quietly, "Damnit......that hurt......and I can't get up..."  
  
"Don't worry, Zoro! You go ahead and get your rest! I'll take it from here!"   
  
Everyone turned, stunned at where the voice came from. Soon, the rest of the soot and dust cleared away as Luffy's silouhette and body began to appear. He looked as if he was hunched over something, protecting something. He stood up and wiped away all the stoof on his clothes and skin. He loosened the grip on his stomach as he revealed his precious straw-hat. When the explosion happened, he had protected his hat from the explosion by quickly unwrapping the stretched arm that was wrapped around him so tightly. When he did that, he pressed the hat against his chest and stomach to protect it from burning up in the explosion.  
  
He placed the hat on his head and grinned at Nami and the others. "I'm fine now! It'll take more than someone's arm blowing up like that to kill me!"  
  
He walked toward Takanachi as Nami just stared at him with a soft smile on her face. Rousse, however, had other intentiions. He attempted to stand up on his feet when he was quickly brought to his feet by the pain in the stomach. Nami immediately helped him sit back down and said to him, "Hey! Don't hurt yourself like that! It won't do you any good to kill yourself over something as silly as a family feud!"  
  
Rousse breathed heavily as he said, "Nami, look at my stomach."  
  
She blinked as she looked down at his stomach and gasped. The stomach wound had already stopped bleeding, and flesh was starting to form where his stomach was punctured. She looked at him with a cold sweat and said very nervously, "Bu......but how?"  
  
Rousse smirked with a painful expression on his face. "Maybe.....maybe someday, I'll tell you later, if we meet again after this and if we survive this."  
  
With a concerned look on her face, Nami and Rousse faced the battle going on as Luffy and Takanachi faced off against eachother.  
  
"Grah!!!" Luffy yelled out as he leapt forward and lunged at Takanachi. He swung his fist forward at him, but he just simply dodged by side-stepping to the left. Luffy, however, was prepared for that and when he missed, he thrusted his palms at the deck and swung his leg upward at Takanachi's back. Immediately, he was pushed forward as he tripped forward, but turned around to see Luffy bounce off the floor and land right on his shoulders, bringing him down as he got back on his feet. When Luffy got a quick breath, he faced Takanachi, grabbed his shirt, and begin to pummel him as hard as he can. Takanachi merely took the blows as he did feel himself becoming even more and more hurt. He quickly picked him up, and tossed him towards the edge of the deck. When he did that, a barrel of gunpowder was knocked away onto the ground and the top opened up, spilling gunpowder all over the deck.  
  
Takanachi had enough of this as he finally picked up his dagger. Ignoring the gunpowder, he swung across the deck and felt something land against the blade of the dagger. He blinked as he looked at where the dagger had hit, and he had scratched against a piece of metal, which caused a few tiny sparks, The sparks landed against the gunpowder, and it ended up igniting the gunpowder in a huge explosion.....  
  
~  
  
Soon, the ship had caught on fire. The entire deck was burning, save the middle area, where the fight was taking place. Usopp had bravely dived to save Zoro from the flames while Nami did the same for Rousse. When they all opened their eyes, they were stunned by the raging fires that would soon reach the center of the deck. However, Luffy and Takanachi were unfased. They were now simply staring off at eachother.  
  
Rousse, now realizing what he needs to do, picks up his samurai sword, and gets up, ignoring the pain again. Nami noticed and pulled on his arm, begging him to stay down since he was still wounded. However, Rousse smirked as he patted her head and said, "Don't worry. I'll be fine."  
  
Rousse walked over to Luffy where he placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "You did well, but I'll take it from here."  
  
Luffy turned around and said at him, "Wha?! But you're still hurt from that dirty pool he did on you and.......wha?!"  
  
Luffy saw the wounded was nearly healed. The punctured hole had already healed with only a few red marks on the wound, which still has sensitive skin. He looked and said with another grin, "I don't know how you did that, but that's great! I'm glad you're gonna fight him! This guy is totally weak!"  
  
He smirked as he said at Luffy, "Heh. Well, you do have quite a bit of experience with those stretching abilities, so it's easy for you.. I, as a pretty normal guy, have a lot of work ahead of me."  
  
Luffy grinned back and said, "Well, you have fun! I gotta get everyone off the ship!"  
  
"I'll definately have fun when I fight this guy."  
  
Luffy walked away from the battlefield and headed toward the injured area. Nami looked at him and said with a very angry look in her eyes, "LUFFY! Why are you leaving?! Rousse can barely stand up, and you were pummeling the snot of that guy! Why are you gonna let him get killed?!"  
  
Immediately, Luffy grinned at Nami again and said, "Well, I know that Taka guy is totally weak, so it should be easy for Rousse to handle him! Besides, if he were to get hurt, you know I'd go and save him right then and there!"  
  
Nami blinked, but couldn't help at smile at him while he smiled bakc at her. Before she could say anything in reply, there was a huge explosion as part of the south and north deck began to fall apart. Immediately, Luffy yelled at the gang to "Get out of here! We gotta get on a lifeboat and sail back to our ship!"  
  
Everyone agreed as Luffy, Nami, and with the help of Usopp, Zoro all ran towards the side of the center deck, where there were two small lifeboats on one side of the ship. Luffy and Nami got on one boat while Zoro and Usopp got on the other. Using one of Zoro's swords, Luffy cut away at the rope holding the boats and braced for impact as hthe boats fell down onto the water. When they landed on the water, the two boats began to float away with the help of the pirates peddling their way out of the ship's explosions.  
  
Rousse looked toward the boats as he raised his sword again and said, "Well, I'm fine again! So.....why don't we finish this fight right now?!"  
  
Takanachi growled as he said, "Well.......seeing as you're willing to kill yourself....and since I can't stand a chance against the guy with the straw-hat, it'll be a pleasure to kill you!"  
  
Both of them smirked as they stared off against eachother.Rousse thought to himself that he would finish off his brother and destroy the island afterwards. However, Takanachi was thinking something totally different.  
  
"Rousse............................I'm sorry...sorry for hurting you all those years.....forgive me......"  
  
~  
  
Nami looked away at the ship which was still ablaze. She whispered to Luffy who was right by her side. "I hope Rousse is okay..."  
  
Luffy scooted up closer to Nami and placed his hand atop hers. "He'll be okay. I could sense his desire to leave and his willingness to conquer his past. I know a guy like that won't be willing to die until he's ready."  
  
Nami blushed at those words and his touch, but smiled as she scooted closer against Luffy's chest and sat down real close to him, cuddling with him. With him, she felt as if his own words accurately portrayed the future, erasing all of her doubts. The two of them just spent the tiny peaceful moment they had together and stared at the stars......  
  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Ch.5 Finished. Ch.6 hopefully coming soon this year. XD I'm just kidding  
  
Ch.6 is basically the Final Chapter! It's one big fight as Rousse and Takanachi settle their inner differences through their weapons and strength! Also, Nami and Luffy get together their emotions and figure out what to do after this small adventure!  
  
I thank you all for being very patient with me. I have been quite busy with life. Yes, I have a life outside the internet. XD NEway, I hope that Ch.6 will be done soon. I will hope you guys bear with me as I rush through the ficcy and finish this so that I can work on my other projects without any guilt. XP Thank you all very much for reading this and keeping up. I promise you the 6th chapter will be sorta okay. XD  
  
Thank you! See ya. ^^ 


	6. Family Feud, Conclusion

One Piece - Island of the Gum Gums - Chapter 6  
  
Written by Steven Kunz the Fan Author  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own nor invent One Piece. This excellent manga was written and drawn by Eiichiro Oda.  
  
_________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Luffy and Nami sat there, staring at both the stars and the blazing ship, as Zoro and Usopp hurridly paddled their way to the surface.  
  
In a few minutes, Zoro blinked as he turned around and pointed his thumb at the island. "There's our ship."  
  
Everyone turned around as they looked at the ship at it with a sense of security and awe. Even though it has only been a couple of hours since they left, they have never felt more glad to be what they called 'home'.  
  
Zoro stood up and dove for shore with Usopp along after taking a deep breath and a quick prayer in hopes that he won't be bitten by any bad fish, leaving Luffy and Nami alone to see if Rousse would escape or not.  
  
The two just simly sat there and stared at the ship and at the stars once again. Nami now felt as if she could be with Luffy now. However, the thought of her mother dying by the hands of different pirates still caused her to be against becoming a pirate, much less being in a relationship with a pirate. She gathered all her courage to tell Luffy that it simply won't work out, but she was simply too scared and too nervous at what could happen to their friendship.  
  
"It's not going to work out, is it?" Luffy finally said after looking at Nami with a concerned look.  
  
Nami blinked and looked at him. She was obviously stunned that he could guess what she was thinking, but in a way, she wasn't surprised. She shook her head and whispered, "No."  
  
Expecting an angry response from Luffy, she bent her head and thought to herself, "What have I done....?"  
  
Instead, she felt his hands on her shoulders as she looked up and was ready to accept what was coming to her. To her surprise, she sweatdropped when he saw that very same wide grin on his face.  
  
"That doesn't change a thing between us, you know! Just because we broke up doesn't mean we still can't be friends, am I right?" He said with that very same enthusiastic tone of voice.  
  
He knew what sort of reaction Nami would make in the short time the two were together. She smiled softly at him, and then said back at him in that same enthusiastic tone, "Yeah! Nothin isn't gonna stop us from going to the Grand Line! Am I right?!"  
  
The two smirked at eachother and shook hands. In both of their minds, they felt as if their friendship had been reborn. However, the two of them still felt a little something for eachother, so they were unsure if they would be back together at a future date, whether they would remain friends forever, or something else would occur.  
  
Suddenly, there was a huge explosion that rocked the burning ship. It wasn't the tiny explosions that came from Takanachi whenever his limbs were severed, but it was one from the ship itself. It exploded two more times as many splinters and boards of wood were flung in all directions.  
  
"ROUSSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The two yelled out as they were now very scared of what could have happened on that ship.  
  
~  
  
A few moments ago on that very same ship...........  
  
~  
  
With the north and south sides of the ship burning to cinders, Takanachi and Rousse were in the heat of battle, both wanting to escape before either one of them would be caught in the fire.  
  
"GRAH!!!" Rousse said as he leapt forward, and with one hand, swung his sword across Takanachi and aimed for his neck.  
  
Takanachi leaned back as far as he could and prepared to raise his two daggers. Rousse leapt over him as far as he could and bounced off him when he couldn't reach over him. This left Takanachi on the ground, but he was able to stab Rousse in his left ankle before he went down.  
  
While Takanachi was getting up, Rousse tried to adjust his landing so that he wouldn't land on his left ankle. He needed a little more time to heal so that he would be at least somewhat manuverable. Quickly, he thrusted his right leg as he hoped he could pull his left leg back in time.  
  
It did work. Rousse landed on the tip of his right foot, but was quickly going to lose balance. As soon as he landed, he bounced off the ground and slashed right through Takanachi as he leapt pass him. Rousse couldn't land on the ground safely enough, so he ended up skidding on the deck and landed against the outer wall of the captain's quarters, where he was interrogated. He got up quickly and looked at the damage he could have caused, making sure to lean on his sword a little.  
  
Takanachi stood there and without making a sound, he felt his two arms fall off as they soon began to take a life of their own again. He turned to Rousse and grinned at him with an insane look in his eyes. He yelled out at Rousse, "NOW!! THIS TIME, I'LL MAKE SURE YOU'LL PAY!!!!"  
  
Rousse knew the two arms would be going to go after him, so he decided he would make Takanachi's death quick and easy. He dashed forward with his sword ready, ignoring the pain on his left ankle.  
  
The first arm went low with it's hand opened while the other one went high with it's hand open as well. Rousse leapt over the low arm while he simply shoved the high arm out of his way. He dashed toward Takanachi as he stood there, waiting for something. He yelled out to Takanachi, "No, you'll pay!!"  
  
He would have dashed through Takanachi and would have attempted to hit one of his vitals, but instead, he tripped forward and screamed in pain. When he leapt over the low end of the arm, the lower end of that wrapped itself tightly around Rousse's left ankle, making sure it would hurt.  
  
While the low arm squeezed tightly, the high arm went around Rousse's neck and began to squeeze him there. Rousse tried to scream whenever the squeezings became mroe intense, but was also trying to breathe as well. He was being suffocated by being choked and unable to breath due to his attempted screams in pain.  
  
Soon, Rousse grew tired of this and bit Takanachi's arm. Takanachi wasn't able to feel any pain when his arms were severed, but he could still feel his arm be bitten. Immediately, he pulled his two arms away and went back to his normal self, nursing the bite Rousse had done. He growled, unsheathed the only dagger he had left, and yelled out, "DAMN YOU!!!"  
  
Rousee chuckled as he began to brush off his wounds and attempted to walk. However, it was very hard with the stab wound in his left ankle. In order to stall for time, he said to Takanachi, "Well well well, Brother. Seems like you aren't at your best."  
  
He growled even more, giving Rousse more oppurtunities to stall. However, it was Takanachi who asked the questions this time.  
  
"Rousse, before I kill you, I've got to ask you something."  
  
"What is it?" Rousse said, lifting an eyebrow in skepticism.  
  
"I thought you only cared about yourself and that Jennifer girl you've always bragged about. I thought you wanted to hurt the kid in the Straw Hat and his friends. Now, you're fighting for them, why?"  
  
Rousse blinked as he felt the stomach wound starting to heal fully while the stinging pain of the ankle wound is being reduced to a numbness. He gave out a slight monologue so that he could stall for even more time and that he could get why he stayed too.  
  
"Well, Takanachi, you know why I ended up that way. I grew up without love from you, my friends, and my father. My mother died before I could feel her true love. I've grown up very bitter and very alone. Even Jennifer, I believe, she never really appreciated me. I was always the lone wolf, the person no one wanted, and the one who would die alone where everyone else would live together with someone. I help Luffy and the others out because they finally appreciate me for who I am. I can be truly myself with Luffy, Nami, Zoro, and Usopp. I know that....they'll probably forget me after they leave the island, but at least it's given me the confidence I need to go back to my old way of life, if I can survive, that is."  
  
Takanachi blinked as he looked into Rousse's eyes. He could tell that Rousse had changed from the man he once was to the total stranger standing before him. He thought to himself. "Rousse........what in the world have you done to yourself to make yourself so strong?!!"  
  
Immediately, he laughed loudly and swung his sword around in a fake arrogance and said, "Well, it doesn't matter if you survive or not because I will be killing you with one strike of my dagger."  
  
Takanachi suddenly detached his arm with the dagger and flew it forward at Rousse. Lifting his sword, he slid his leg back and got into a basic battle stance. The dagger flew forward and prepared to stab him, but Rousse stopped this by swinging upward, cutting the blade in half. Immediately, the hand opened up, dropping the dagger, and eventually grabbed Rousse's throat and gripping it rather tightly.  
  
As Rousse struggled for breath, he attempted to pull it away, dropping his sword in the process. For nearly one whole minute, he attempted to pry away the hand, but hasn't had no luck. Realizing that he cannot pull it away before the next attack, he suddenly grabbed his sword and ran forward.   
  
Takanachi realized what Rousse was going to do. Realizing this, he released his other arm and flew it toward his legs. When the entire arm wrapped around his legs, Rousse nearly tripped, but he didn't stop. He fell towards the ground, but he didn't stop. Instead, he rolled forward, making sure not to stab or cut himself with his sword, and landed on one knee. He immediately stood up and thrusted his sword through Takanachi's heart.  
  
Although his arms were still holding onto him tightly, Takanachi just stopped as he bent his head down and looked at his brother's face  
  
"Hate.....sadness.....a strong source of enmity.....but also.....a look without any sort of love or pity...." Takanachi thought in his head.  
  
Rousse growled even more at Takanachi's stunned expression and yelled at him, "GO TO HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
He stood up as much as he could, and pushed the sword all the way in, the hilt now being pressed against Takanachi's chest. Takanachi gasped for air at the sensation of the sword blade going through his body.  
  
What was also totally unexected was Rousse quickly pulling his blade out instead of gently sliding it away. Takanachi gasped as his arms finally released his grip. He fell to his knees and looked at Rousse, who was now grimacing and glaring at him.  
  
"WELL?! What do you have to say before I kill you even more, huh?!"  
  
Takanachi blinked, then bent his head and whispered something that Rousse couldn't hear. Immediately, he yelled even closer, "What?! What did you say?!"  
  
".........sorry......"  
  
Rousse blinked and leapt back, his face now slightly red from this. He blinked again and yelled, "WHAT WAS THAT?!"  
  
".........I'm sorry for hurting you, Rousse.....if I'd known any better, none of this would happen...."  
  
Rousse didn't say anything. He was too stunned by what had Takanachi had done, and he had finally felt the guilt of his sin bearing down onto his soul. He didn't like it, he didn't like it one bit.  
  
Takanachi lifted his head and Rousse was surprised even more. He was smiling, and it was a genuine smile of caring and love. It wasn't one of those maniacal smirks he had on his face and those looks of general hate he showed back then.  
  
"Rousse.....I....."   
  
Takanachi never finished his sentence. Immediately, he collapsed onto the ground as he went further towards the light and his eyes closed with a soft smile.  
  
"!!!!!!"  
  
Rousse blinked and didn't even say anything after that. He just stood there, shocked and ashamed. He lifted his sword and moved his finger across it, feeling the blood trickling down his index finger.  
  
Looking at it, he began to tear up as he too went to his knees and began to cry softly, not wanting to say anything or do anything, but cry. He felt the fire coming forth as he continued to cry. He didn't care anymore whether the flames burned him to death or not. At that moment, he just wanted to die like Takanachi.  
  
The flames around the ship soon moved closer to Rousse as parts of it began to explode....  
  
~  
  
"ROUUUSSEEEE!!!!!!!!" Nami and Luffy yelled out as the ship began to explode.  
  
Nami couldn't bear to see the ship explode, but she could not pull her eyes away. What she did was stare at it in an unbearingly helpless position and feel her tears roll down her cheek. Luffy was just staring in silence, not wanting to know the possibility of Rousse being killed.  
  
In a matter of minutes, the ship exploded fully into tiny wooden shrapnels that flew across the entire ocean, or so it seemed. Without even thinking, both Nami and Luffy leapt for eachother to cover, but ended up tackling and hugging eachother tightly. They were safe from the shrapnels, but when they opened their eyes and stared at eachother, neither one of them could find the words to end this awkward moment. Instead, they got up and looked at the burning hulk that was formerly Takanachi's ship as it sunk to the ground.  
  
Nami was about to cry, but she couldn't. She couldn't bear the thought of having Luffy comfort her right now since it would bring out feelings again. However, she didn't want to hold it in, so she cried very hesitantly.  
  
As she thought, Luffy simply put his arm around her and whispered, "I'm sorry, Nami...."  
  
She was expecting this and didn't want this, but she enjoyed it all the same, and thanked God that she was being comforted.  
  
However, before she could say something, Luffy pointed in the air and stood up, yelling, "LOOK!!!!"  
  
When Nami lifted her head up, she rubbed her eyes in surprise, than gasped in joy. It was Rousse floating in the air, one hand onto the package Luffy gave him, and the other hand with his sword grasped tightly. They yelled at him to come here, but nothing happened. Rousse just hovered in the air, and eventually, he fell to the ocean and made a huge splash.  
  
Realizing that Luffy cannot swim, Nami dived in the ocean and swam for Rousse while Luffy paddled as best as he can to get to him. What Nami did not see while she was swimming was two tiny dots in the sky, right above where Rousse was.  
  
Luffy stopped for a moment and looked a little closer. He blinked as he saw it was Takanachi's hands floating in the air. It turned out that Rousse was being lifted by his hands, the last bits of free will leaving Takanachi's hands as it glew even brighter.  
  
Before it exploded, it waved goodbye and flew up a little higher, so that no one would be affected by the blast to come. When the hands exploded, it was a real explosion that was so immense, it nearly collided with the ocean floor. However, it dissapated, and there was now nothing left of Takanachi.  
  
Luffy kept his teeth clenched tightly as he didn't say a word. He wanted to curse Takanachi, but kept his mouth shut. He wanted to tell him in person that sacrificing his life to save his brother was stupid since it would have been possible to save himself and Rousse, but he realized amazingly quick for Luffy that Rousse killed Takanachi and he had a change of heart.  
  
Either way, it didn't matter to Luffy this moment. He reached for Nami and pulled the two in. While Nami took a quick breath and attempted to resuscitate Rousse, Luffy looked at his face. Although he appeared to be showing no expression as he was knocked out, he thought that Rousse was crying due to a tear or some water rolling down his cheek.  
  
In a matter of minutes, the dinghy made it to the beach, where Zoro was still trying to get the ship ready to go. However, that would be put off until the next morning or the next night.  
  
~  
  
Indeed, it had reached night-time for the next day. Rousse had been unconscious for a long time, and although prepartions to leave were ready, they weren't going to leave Rousse lying on the shore.  
  
When he opened his eyes, he found himself in Luffy's room. It turned out that everyone was waiting for him to wake up. He sat up and yawned a little before he said, "Where am I?"  
  
"You're in my room. It's about night-time, and it's already tomorrow for you, Rousse." Luffy said.  
  
Rubbing the back of his head, Rousse said, "Wow.......how the hell did I get here? Last I remember, I had....defeated Takanachi, and I went unconscious due to all the smoke covering the battlefield......"  
  
He turned his head to Nami and said, "What happened?"  
  
"Well..." Nami thought for a quick second about what happened. She didn't want to say that Takanachi saved him. She knew that it would make him angry since he hated him so much. Instead, she said, "The ship exploded, and you were literally thrown out of the deck. If it weren't for me and Luffy, you would have drowned."  
  
Rousse blinked, and nodded his head while smiling at Luffy and Nami. Nami smiled softly at him while Luffy grinned with a thumbs-up.  
  
~  
  
After one or two more checks of getting ready, Luffy and the rest of the StrawHat Pirates were ready to leave.  
  
They all stood outside the ship as Rousse was ready to wave goodbye. Before they did, they all said goodbye.  
  
Zoro nodded his head and waved goodbye as he turned back to the ship and left. Usopp tried to grin like Luffy and say goodbye, but he only succeeded in making himself look silly, so he quietly went back to the ship. Nami hugged Rousse tightly, happy to know a guy like him.  
  
"Of course, he's still not quite Luffy.....wait, what am I thinking?!" She thought to herself as she walked nervously back onto the ship.  
  
Luffy was next. The two shook hands rather vigorously and smirked at eachother.  
  
"SO long, Rousse. I hope that you get that evil father of yours and give him what he deserves!" Luffy said with a grin.  
  
"And you go.....uh.....Luffy..." Rousse sweatdropped, but quickly said, "What is your dream, or rather, why are you a pirate?"  
  
He grinned even wider and said, "I am going to be the Pirate King, just like Gold Roger! No, I am going to be better than Gold Riger! I will be the King of Pirates!!!"  
  
Rousse sweatdropped even more, but grinned as Luffy did and gave the same thumbs-up. "Well, good for you! I pray that you become the King of Pirates!"  
  
With another handshake, Luffy turned and hopped towards the ship.  
  
Soon, they were out to sea, only a few feet away from the island shore. While Nami and Zoro were raising the flags to make sure they were going as fast as they can, Usopp was checking the cannons and the rest of the arsenal they had on the ship, and Luffy was ready to get going.  
  
"Awright!!!! Let's GO!!!!!!!!!!! TO THE GRAND LINE!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
The ship left and when it was finally gone from Rousse's sights, it was quiet again.  
  
He walked to the empty dinghy that was left there and pulled out a match and a leftover piece of wood that was there on the island. Lighting it, Rousse tossed it to the forest, and eventually, the whole island was caught on fire.  
  
Rousse departed on the dinghy and rowed to an unknown direction. He sat back and watched the island burn away into cinder as he got away from it. While he was rowing back, he said to himself.  
  
"Jennifer.....wait for me, I shall be back......."  
  
~  
  
The next day, in the hideout that Rousse's father used to conduct his twisted experiments, he walked over to an empty container which was as big as a coffin, yet it was made out of metal and it was cold to the touch. It stood upright with the name on top covered by ice.  
  
With another assistant, he reached for a crowbar or anything hard, and pryed the container open with his head. When it opened, a very cold mist blasted out onto the group as it covered the entire room. When it dissapated, there stood the bare body of a young woman about 17 or 18 years of age. She stepped forward, stopping for a moment as her veins and arteries were held by many tubes and needles. She simply pulled them off without any pain and stepped forward. Her body was overly fine, but there was some parts of her where there were some scratch marks as well as the very tiny pinpricks in her veins and arteries, causing her to bleed a little.  
  
She said to Rousse's father, "Hello...........Are you my creator?"  
  
"Yes...I am." He said with a devious grin.  
  
"If that is so, what is my purpose?"  
  
"Your purpose, once I have fully prepped you, is to find and kill Rousse LeOnne as well as the one they call Monkey D. Luffy."  
  
"I see. I will carry out that function. Master."  
  
Rousse's fater grinned widely as he let the girl go off into a private dressing room. While the Assistant went to help, Rousse's father closed the giant container, and when he left, all of the ice and frost fell off the name plate.  
  
On the name place, it said in bold and embossed letters:  
  
"Jennifer"  
  
~  
  
Meanwhile, the Island of the Gum Gums was now a desert island. All of the trees had been burnt to cinders, or fell down onto the ground due to the tree and bark weaking to an extreme level. Indeed, it was truly a place of death now.  
  
However, when the winds blow through the island's burnt stumps and fallen trees, leaves, and branches, if someone were still there, they could believe to themselves that these words were said.   
  
"Jennifer.....wait for me, I shall be back......"  
  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________  
  
And that is the end of Island of the Gum Gums! Phew! =P  
  
Well, this fic was expected to be done in one-two months, and what happened? It took nearly a full year. XD Damn my laziness.  
  
NEway, it got kinda hard to write with lots of schoolwork coming down, and a lack of interest in writing. I have been given a stronger interest in drawing, and I like to think I'm a itty bit good at it. XD NEway, it was fun writing this fic, and by the way this ended, you can bet yourselves that there will be a sequel! =D Just need to reach and research for more One Piece info. =P All I know so far that it involves Jennifer, Rousse, and the StrawHat Pirates finally have Sanji on the team, I think. o.o;;;;  
  
Well, that's it. Hope you had fun! ^____^ Bai Bai!  
  
Steven Kunz the Fan Author  
  
stevenkunz@earthlink.net --- Whatever suggestions or stuff you want for the next fic or any more stuff you want on the reviews, but can't say on ff.net. XD NEway......BAI! XD *runs off into nowhereness again. ^^* 


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